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AMERICA'S KING 



HE COSTS THE PEOPLE FIVE MILLION DOLLARS A DAY. 



Consider your ways. — Ye have sown much and bring in little ; ye eat 
but have not enough ; ye drink but are not filled with drink ; ye clothe 
yourselves but none are warm ; and he that earneth wages, earneth wages 
to put them into a bag with holes. — Haggai I: 5, 6. 

Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. 
—Proverbs XIV: 34. 



HARD FACTS ABOUT HARD TIMES AND THEIR CAUSE. 



EDWIN PC. HART. 



PHILADELPHIA 
PATRIOT PUBLISH^ 

1898. 



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<302 



Copyright, 1898, by Edwin K. Hart. 



Just a Word, to Begin With. 



Twelve years ago the writer was asked to address the West 
Chester, Pa., Philosophical Society upon existing social and in- 
dustrial conditions. The title of the lecture delivered under such 
auspices, twice repeated, by special request, before larger audi- 
ences, was "Millions Against Millions." A supplemental review 
of the same subject was given, six months later. The facts plainly 
presented were earnestly discussed by thoughtful men and women. 
Transcribed, the notes used on that occasion now read like proph- 
ecy, so rapid and startling has been the development of the un- 
American policy to the presence and pursuit of which, with such 
consuming zeal, the country is indebted for the acknowledged 
perils which beset it. That was the beginning of this book. Its 
purpose is to direct attention to the wide departure from the safe 
land-marks of the fathers of the American Republic, and the es- 
tablishment and growth of methods dangerous in their tendency 
and results, and which have worked incalculable injury to a vast 
number of the best citizens of our country. It does not deal in 
impracticable suggestions. Its author has been too busy with 
his daily editorial work to even read the productions of the eco- 
nomic doctrinaires or romancers of the time, however able, sin- 
cere or original they may be. He believes that one ounce of fact 
is worth a ton of theory in solving national problems. 

Every page here submitted could have been fortified by many 
pages of confirmatory evidence, from leading journals and the 
utterances of public men. What is presented, as tersely as pos- 
sible, is a summary of the situation, as it strikes the observer, after 
twenty-five years' service in the arena of daily inquiry and dis- 
cussion of public events. A portion of his former journalistic work 
is embodied, revised for present uses. The reader who is un- 
prepared for statements given and is disposed to cavil, should find' 
fault with the facts; not with the chronicler. Let him stop and 
think what his duty is. Let him look about him and note what is 
within the range of his own vision. Let him put to himself and 
answer the query of the prophet of old: "What Seest Thou"? 



Vlll 



Let him remember that the first duty of a patriot is to fearlessly 
face the truth, and next to put on the armor of righteousness and 
patriotism and enlist for the war against the combined enemies 
of true national prosperity. Let him find his own work as a good 
citizen and take it up without delay and with courage and zeal. 
If popular government is to be preserved in its integrity on this 
continent its friends must be up and doing. 

No other great nation ever was so perilously overborne in such a 
short time. Through mis-government, official defalcation and leg- 
islative bribery, abuse of corporate power, trust conspiracy, bank 
wrecking, tax evasion, commercial dishonesty, stock gambling, 
subjection of courts, rent extortion, degradation of labor, need- 
less poverty, social vanity and vice, millionairism and the rav- 
ages of the liquor traffic, the American people are being robbed 
of over one billion five hundred million dollars a year, or five 
million dollars for each working day. The resources of the coun- 
try are being rapidly absorbed by a self-appointed ruling class, in 
defiance of the basic principles of our national life. Over ninety 
per cent, of the wealth of the land is held by less than ten per cent, 
of the population, reducing vast and increasing numbers of our 
people to a condition worse than that of common serfdom; and 
this alarming change has taken place within the lifetime of the 
younger part of the present generation. How much longer will 
the nation submit to this reign of millionaire, corporation and 
political absolutism? How much longer will it tolerate this all- 
devouring King Stork and the despotic forces which stand for 
national spoliation and ruin? 

EDWIN K. HART. 

Philadelphia, April 19, 1898. 



What You Will Read About. 



I. PAGE 

The American corner-stone— True national ideas— Public service and 
public honors — The early record of a great State — A direful change 
— Its blightiug effects — A personal oligarchy — A legacy of crime— 
An historic protest 11 

II. 
The " Pennsylvania System " as applied to the nation — Debasing 
influences — The machine and what it stands for— In town and 
country— Its creatures and their methods— Typical characters— 
A self- perpetuating organization — " Hearts of stone," 21 

III. 
Appointments — Subversion of authority — Misuse of executive power 
— Growth and effect of a vicious system — A nursery of intrigue, 
deception and falsehood — The popular will disregarded— Payment 
of political debts — Personal and official degradation — "Sugar on 
the spoon," 31 

IV. 
Executive mis-government— Tax-payers needlessly burdened — A 
growing brood of evils — The vice and sequel of selfish ambition — 
Care of the public money — " Millions in it " — Millions lost to the 
people — The treasury machine — A treacherous friend ; a cruel and 
relentless foe, 37 

V. 

Legislative picking and stealing — " Pinchers" — Sham investigations 
and contests — The mileage swindle — Extravagance and waste — 
Special and corrupt legislation — Abuse of corporate power — Fatal 
excuses Injurious to the public welfare— Defiance of law— Demor- 
alizing example and injurious results, .... 43 

VI. 
Money in politics— The consuming peril of the nation — Startling 
facts— Oily Rocks and his methods — Hireling workers multiplied — 
Misuse of power— A ruinous revolution — Bitter fruits for the peo- 
ple — A conspiracy of degradation and silence, 49 

(3) 






VII. PAGE 

The Courts —Influences of the times — Perverted legal ethics — How 
selections for the Bench are made — Governing ideas of ruling 
elements— Services of Slick & Co. — Set-up juries— New trials — A 
battle for justice — Ominous signs, 54 

VIII. 

Trusts — Their purpose, growth, rapacity and power — Un-American, 
hateful and ruinous — Individualism crushed— How labor suffers 
and the State is burdened — Defiance of constituted authorities - 
Breeders of anarchy — Enormous profit of the money kings, ... 62 

IX. 

The greatest of evils— The power of the liquor traffic in social, politi- 
cal and commercial affairs — Its cardinal principles— Methods and 
resources — A menace to life, liberty and happiness — Responsibility 
of ruling classes— Duty of all good citizens, 68 

X. 

The press, its rights, duties and responsibilities — Evils of official 
advertising— What it costs the people— The business office and the 
editorial room — The country newspaper— Ethics of journalism — 
A noble life — An appeal for higher principles and purer methods, . 76 

XL 

The American farmer — An inspiring record — Social and industrial 
changes— A costly mistake — Keep the young people away from 
cities— The old homestead — An ideal life — Spiritual needs— Per- 
sonal influence— Joys of the inner light, 85 

XII. 

"Lost or stolen," $2,500,000,000— The mortgage that never shrinks 
— Hard facts about hard times — Crushing burdens the farmer and 
artisan have to bear— How immigration has injured both — The only 
way out— The power of united effort, 96 

XIII. 
Wrongs of American labor — Slavery, old and new — The black list 
and its victims — How wages are kept down — Thirty days ahead 
of starvation— " Charity " — Protection a mockery — Nothing so 
"cheap" as flesh and blood — A desperate battle for life, . . . . 104 

XIV. 

In the depths — Increase of poverty— Society and the dependent 
classes — The pitiful cry from the " slums "—Suffering humanity 
and its needs —What can be done — An imperative duty— Preven- 
tion and not cure the true remedy, 118 



XV. PAGE 

The last and worst blow at labor— No day of " rest and gladness ; no 
day of joy and light " — How human greed is abolishing the Ameri- 
can Sunday — Millions of helpless toilers— Something to strike 
against as one man — The neglected duty of the Church, 128 

XVI. 
Young America and its weaknesses — Traps for the unwary — Satan's 
recruiting stations — Bad books, bad plays and bad habits — The 
voice of the tempter— The pathway of safety, usefulness and honor 
—High ideals and worthy efforts, 138 

XVII. 
God and mammon— The true mission of the Church — " Wanted, an 
earthquake " — Running away from the poor — The vacation season 
and its opportunities and duties— Misguided leaders — What the 
world is hungering for— An appalling responsibility, 147 

XVIII. 

Inspiration of patriotic lives — Birthdays of Washington and Lincoln 
— Lessons which should never be forgotten — The citizen and 
his responsibility for bad government— National preservation 
dependent upon individual integrity and patriotism, 158 

XIX. 

The men of '61-'65— The cause for which they fought — Memorial 
Day and what it should stand for — The Blue and the Gray — The 
man in the ranks — The second martyr President — A forgotten 
warning— The spoils system and what it means, 163 

XX. 

Reform, true and false— The cart before the horse— Failure and why— 
Pinhook and Highflyer— The true way— The nation topheavy— 
Social vanity — The pace that kills— Hostile influences and ruinous 
kite-flying — A time to think, . 173 

XXI. 

A prophecy fulfilled— Alarming contrasts — The millionaire and the 
tramp — Rags, robbery and riches— The curse of combination — A 
nation plundered — The growth of millionaireism — Cheating the 
State— The source of bribery— The Republic's peril, 178 

XXII. 

Manufacturing and commercial crookedness— How the people are 
deceived— The fraud of cheapness— Food adulteration — Honey in 
the comb — Swindling the government— " Higher education" of 
criminals — Where will it all end? — A revival of righteousness 
needed, 188 



XXIII. PAGE 

America's " smart set " — 111 gotten millions and how they are spent — 
Heathen profligacy outdone — A generation of upstarts— Ignorance 
and insolence — Shoddy, Sham and Pretence — Fashionable iniquity 
— Gilded palaces and useless lives — What of the future ? 197 

XXIV. 

America's King Stork, and how he robs the people— Burden of the 
liquor traffic — Labor's just complaint — The cost of commercial dis- 
honesty — How monopoly makes millionaires — Over one billion, 
five hundred million dollars lost every year — A lesson to be re- 
membered, 204 

XXV. 

The founders of the Republic — The covenant of a chosen people — 
Source of true loyalty and strength — National principles perverted 
— Labor's heavy burden — Babylon's boast repeated— The spirit of 
oppression — The eagle and the serpent — War clouds — The danger 
and duty of the hour, 214 

XXVI. 

Voyage of The Great Republic — The gathering storm — Feasting and 
dancing within ; approaching peril without — The stranded ship — 
A cry for help — The fishermen of Gallilee— Rescuing faith — Human 
brotherhood — The warning signal — On the shoals— " Two Bells" 
—Saved as by a miracle — A summer idyl of the sea, ........ 225 




Men Whom You Will Meet. 



" CARROTS." The ground work of the rural machine. 

" A little of the stuff goes a long ways down here." 

JERRY PLUG. As useful as he is unscrupulous. 

" Leather}'- always leaves this township to me." 

" SLIPPERY BILL-YUS." A 'spectable colored gemmen in politics. 
11 Ise goine to git half a pig — after de 'lection." 

JEEMS LEATHERY. An expert campaign manager. 
"The fat goose loves to be plucked." 

HON. TOMPKINS BROAD AXE. A rural speculator in votes and offices. 
"I believe in methods which produce results." 

JEREMIAH BUMPKIN. The greatest man in Bumpkinville. 
" Politics pays better than farming." 

JUDGE SMUGG. A believer in one-eyed justice. 

" Oh, Jim is only making a little money." 

BUCKEY HEELER. The man with a pull. 

11 1 always carry my division." 

LIJE CROOK. The boss who runs the machine. 

" This is the point— what is in it for me?" 

DAN McSWIGGIN. He has a finger in every municipal pie. 
" Live and let live, is my motto." 

EASY SMILER. An open countenance and a fat pocket-book. 
11 Ah, about the same as last year — I suppose ? " 

DE WELLINGTON HIGHFLYER. A thrifty "man of business " in politics. 
" Why, sir, they are taxing us to death, sir." 

EBENEZER PINHOOK. Alias " Granny Gooseberry." 
"We reformers should stick together." 

OILY ROCKS. The ambitious millionaire in politics. 

"Statesmanship, with me, is a mere matter of business." 






PROF. BEETLE. Knows all about bugs, but despises politicians. 
" And they asked me if I could read? " 

OLIVER SLICK, ESQ. A Senatorial lobbyist and corporation attorney. 
"My services were purely professional." 

SIMON SNEAK. An ex-member and professional lobbyist. 
"Every man has his price, and I pay cash." 

MAJOR DAN HORNBLOWER. A prince of journahsticSPharisees. 
"The sacred calling of journalism appeals to my highest instincts." 

GOVERNOR BRASS. Thinks he ought to be President. 
"You might put me on that high stump." 

THE HESSIAN. The " striker" between the lines. 
" No cash, no vote." 

PATSEY BOLIVER. The last of his race. 

"The only people fooled are the people." 





! 




EDWIN K. HART. 



1 1 




I. 

-"There is an undeniable justification for your uprising 

Peace and reform will never come until the moral 
forces in politics you have organized prevail, " 

IN the first sentence of his remarkable 
life of Martin Van Buren, published 
more than forty years after it was 
written, having been withheld for 
politic reasons, George Bancroft 
suggestively observes: "Public life 
in America opens the widest possi- 
ble field for the promulgation of 
truth." Of course, the eminent his- 
torian did not mean in this instance 
to indulge in irony. He was in so- 
ber earnest, as always, deeming it a 
waste of precious time and talent to 
talk flippantly or insincerely upon any occasion. He meant to 
convey the impression at the outset that public leaders in this 
country rested under very great responsibility; that they were 
constantly teaching by example as well as precept; and that it was 
only through steadfast fidelity to the obligations implied that any 
one exercising considerable influence in his time could acquit 
himself before the world. Dealing with a most interesting period 
of American history, full of instruction and admonition, Mr. Ban- 
croft could not fail to improve the opportunity to try to impress all 
who might ponder his sober words with a sense of their duty to 
their Government and to mankind. 

For more than a century the world has looked upon that mar- 
velous instrument, sent forth in 1789 as the organic law of the 
young Republic, as a piece of matchless wisdom, stricc compliance 
therewith insuring the perpetuity of the government thus pro- 
vided for, and equal rights to all its citizens. The fundamental 
-thought in the minds of the framers of the Constitution, as they 
•so earnestly and pointedly put it, was "to form a more perfect 
Union," which should stand the storms of time, outride increas- 



12 

ing dangers, seen and unseen, and make government of the peo- 
ple, for the people and by the people, an abiding and happy suc- 
cess. It has been said that great men are only made in great 
emergencies, yet, as the greatest truths are the simplest, so are 
the greatest men; and the greatest acts of statesmanship, the 
greatest triumphs in any field of human activity, are those which 
promote the comfort, prosperity and happiness of the largest num- 
ber of people. In other words, national duty implies che broadest 
view, yet the most painstaking fidelity to the individual. 

The American statesman of to-day may serve his country as 
efficiently, with as much lasting benefit, as the man of thirty years, 
ago, of sixty years ago, or of a hundred years ago. But he can 
only do this through bed-rock grounding upon moral principles,, 
unselfish devotion to the tasks before him, with the highest aim. 
constantly in view, the popular welfare. At all times his own per- 
sonal interests must resolutely be kept secondary. He can only 
serve himself by serving the people. When he seeks to use per- 
sonal gifts, official opportunity, political power, partisan machin- 
ery, chiefly for the promotion of his own honor, he is sure to fall; 
he is sure to be found out; he is certain to stand in history as one 
who tried to reverse the natural and inexorable order of things.. 
American history is full of these deplorable examples; and as it 
has been in the past, so it must be in the future. There may be 
temporary success, as men call it; there may be seeming triumph;, 
the shouts of the multitude may be heard, applauding personal 
and partisan victories, but in the end there is failure, disappoint- 
ment, lasting regret. The greatest men in American history have 
been those who, while easily equal to the tasks coming to them,, 
have always been superior to the temptations which surrounded 
them; have exercised, through a wise self-control, a patriotic self- 
abnegation; have been ready, like Zachary Taylor, to take the 
Presidency, as a sacred trust; not to touch it as the reward of un- 
worthy partisan service, as the result of selfish intrigue. 

The early record of a great Commonwealth. 

For three-quarters of a century, Pennsylvania proudly held its 
enviable place as the keystone of the federal arch. The honor of 
the Commonwealth was scrupulously maintained. There was un- 
varying loyalty to fundamental national ideas. Public places were 
filled by upright men, who, with honest hearts and clean hands, 



13 

faithfully discharged the solemn obligations assumed. The best 
citizens in every community were by common consent regarded 
as the only fit men for responsible positions of public trust, exec- 
utive, legislative and judicial. The spirit of true patriotism pre- 
vailed at the fireside and throughout the social, industrial and po- 
litical arenas. Men differed as to matters of public policy, as they 
always have and always will; but there was universal adherence 
to the highest principles. The right of suffrage was exercised 
with absolute freedom and honestv. The ballot was sacredly 
guarded. No one dared attempt to debauch the voter, however 
humble or needy, or to exercise undue pressure upon him, or 
public servants of any class. For many years, especially during 
the memorable decade preceding the civil war, questions of the 
times were most earnestly, intelligently and patriotically discussed. 
The lyceum, the people's forum, was everywhere the medium for 
the expression of the popular view. In local, state and national 
affairs, the noble Commonwealth founded by the illustrious am- 
bassador of peace, justice, mercy and truth, was second to none in 
the Union. Its influence was unexcelled. Its history was a bright 
page in the national annals. 

But, in an evil hour, there came a direful change. For fully 
fifty years Pennsylvania has been subject to blighting influences, 
the baleful effects of which two generations have but feebly real- 
ized and which will be felt for a long time to come. In the early 
days of the federal government, the Senate being regarded as the 
place where the highest legislative wisdom and most valuable 
experience should invariably be found, it was the custom of the 
States to select such men as would meet the exalted requirements 
of the office. The constitutional idea, as framed by the fathers, 
was that the Senate, as a sort of legislative court of last resort, 
should be composed of the best men in the nation. For half a 
century or more, a seat therin, even for a single term, was regarded 
as a fitting climax to the loftiest ambition. There were men in 
the Senate often much greater than those who occupied the Presi- 
dency. In fact, the average of statesmanship in the upper legis- 
lative body was higher than in the Executive office. Well would 
it have been for the country if this system had continued to pre- 
vail, if the high standard first set up had been zealously main- 
tained. 



14 
"A strange, uncouth, uncanny figure." 

In the Senatorial contest at Harrisburg, in 1845, there suddenly 
came to the front a strange, uncouth, uncanny figure. It was that 
of a man of mature years, six and forty, who had shown his pe- 
culiar aptitude for business dealings, of a certain kind. He was 
thrifty but unscrupulous, ambitious and unprincipled. He had 
plainly indicated his course in the future, which was repeatedly 
characterized by utter contempt for the obligations supposed to 
govern honorable men in connection with public affairs. He be- 
lieved that the end justified the means. He was apparently pre- 
pared to act with whatever political organization would best pro- 
mote his personal interests. He was not a man of superior intelli- 
gence. He had received but a limited education, and throughout 
his life was rather proud of this fact than otherwise. He was not 
well informed upon great questions; in fact, he had no possible 
claim to the favorable consideration of his fellow-citizens for re- 
sponsible office of any kind. Especially was he ill-fitted to take 
a place in the highest legislative body in the new world. There 
was something supremely grotesque in such a man aspiring to 
fill a place in the United States Senate. Perceiving the oppor- 
tunity, however, to break party lines on the issue of protection, 
then beginning to occupy a large share of public attention, he 
secured his election, through a combination of votes; and twelve 
years later, having, done nothing, meanwhile, to wan ant another 
election to the Senate, the state was ineffaceably disgraced through 
his action in openly debauching three members of the legislature^ 
thus securing another term. 

Again it was abundantly and painfully shown in many ways that 
Pennsvlvania was sadly misrepresented in the upper branch of 
the national legislature. The rising party of freedom and prog- 
ress which was sweeping to the front, was being utilized in the 
greatest of the industrial States to build up a personal oligarchy,, 
corrupt, odious and ruinous. Still, under the tremendous pres- 
sure and excitement of the time, this schemer was permitted to- 
move on in the execution of his always selfish and demoralizing 
practices. At this time he had the audacity to aspire to the Presi- 
dency of the United States, and for a time held the Republican 
National Convention by the throat. It is enough to make patriotic 
men everywhere shudder to think what would have been the con- 
sequences to this Republic had such a preposterous ambition been 



i5 

gratified, at Chicago, in i860. It is more than likely that even 
such a candidate would have been elected, had he been nominated. 
The trend of events was too powerful to be resisted, and then the 
nation's destiny, for four perilous years, would have been in the 
hands of a man without the remotest claim to public respect 
and confidence; one who would have made the Executive office 
a hissing and a by-word; who would have selfishly controlled and 
used all the patronage of the national government and who, as 
the head of the Executive Department in. the greatest crisis in the 
nation's history, would undoubtedly have conducted an admin- 
istration discreditable from the start and a lamentable failure 
throughout. 

A far=reaching influence for evil. 

The country was spared this terrible danger, but it did not fully 
escape. The Lincoln administration, as the result of political chi- 
canery theretofore unknown, was handicapped for some ten 
months, in 1861, through gross mismanagement of the War De- 
partment. It was inevitable that such an incongruous alliance 
could not continue. Mr. Lincoln was compelled to shake himself 
loose from such evil companionship, and for a little while the head 
of the house of Donegal left his country for his country's good. 
Yet, though absent in body, he was always mischievously present 
in spirit. The secret history of Pennsylvania politics during the 
War of the Rebellion doubtless will never be written, but there 
are still living men who could reveal many things which would 
profoundly impress the public mind. It may truthfully be said, 
that the harassed and worn, ever patient and always sublimely 
patriotic War President was called upon to endure more grievous 
and needless annoyance at the hands of the Donegal clan, their 
friends and their foes, the result of the continual factional warfare 
of the time, than was his unhappy lot in connection with the rep- 
resentatives of any other state. The heart of the people of the 
Commonwealth of Penn was sound to the core. Hundreds of 
thousands of their best sons promptly, cheerfully and bravely 
went forward to fight for the preservation of the Union, many of 
them to suffer and many to die on the field, or in the hospitals. 
In a half million homes there was the deepest sympathy with the 
national government, so heroically struggling for its life. There 
was a vacant chair at tens of thousands of sorrowing firesides. 



i6 

When the enemy invaded the sacred soil of freedom, carrying his 
disloyal banner, there was a patriotic rush to meet him, from 
counting houses and shops, from schools and farms and the homes 
of the people. 

But through all this terrible trial, the one thought in the minds 
of the professional politicians of the hour, who had become thor- 
oughly saturated with Donegalism and all that it implied, was to 
secure and use political power for unworthy personal ends. There 
was built up the most perfectly organized and powerful political 
machine ever known in this or any other country. It embraced 
active workers, all filled with the same selfish spirit, in every voting 
precinct, in town and country, throughout the state. It was not 
content with arbitrarily controlling all appointments to federal 
and state offices, but every avenue to public preferment, even to 
the smallest local place, was effectually blocked, except to those 
who co-operated with the active a,gents of the autocratic head of 
the organization. During the past five and thirty years this odious 
political dynasty, directly or indirectly, has reigned almost unin- 
terruptedly in the councils of the dominant party and has never 
been dislodged from its position by any of the various spasmodic 
movements which have arisen as the result of public impatience 
with such demoralizing methods. The best men in every county 
have been deterred from entering oublic life. Many who have 
bravely set out to battle with the entrenched foes of clean politics, 
honorable methods and good government, have fallen by the way- 
side, the victims of conspiracies conceived and executed by the all 
too willing creatures of the worst enemies of American institu- 
tions. 

What it costs to fight the machine. 

Journalists who have refused to bow the knee to Baal have been 
driven into exile. One of these, who rejected all the flattering 
counsels of smooth-tongued public pirates, who kept faith with 
the people of Pittsburg, in a contest for honest government, was 
deprived of his editorial chair, thus sacrificing brilliant prospects 
for life, in obedience to the tyrannical order: "That man Hart 
must be ,gotten rid of." Many other newspaper publishers and 
editors have likewise been compelled to make choice between 
submission to corrupt masters and financial ruin. Ministers of 
the Gospel have been hounded from their pulpits for fidelity to 



i7 

■conscience. Merchants have been robbed of patronage. Bankers 
have been bull-dozed and debauched. Young lawyers have been 
beguiled into crooked ways. Men in every walk of life have felt 
the iron hand of brutal political despotism. A host of young men 
have been corrupted and their careers blighted in the morning of 
life. Honest legislators have been put in the crucible and hun- 
dreds of members of both houses of Assembly have been dragged 
into the vile pit of debasement, where true manhood is lost, where 
honorable obligations are forgotten, where the chains of ruinous 
•servitude are riveted. The American people cannot conceive the 
measure of iniquity thus recorded, from year to year, in shameless 
defiance of every patriotic instinct, with utter disregard of the 
interests of the state and of society. Now and then the public has 
been given a glimpse of the torture endured by those in whose 
breasts conscience has struggled for life. One notable instance 
will here suffice, and the heroic spirit referred to will be permitted 
to speak for himself; for though his work on earth is ended, his 
burning words of righteous protest and just indignation should 
never be forgotten by the people of his own state or of the 
country. 

"This Way, Governor." 

In the closing and critical hours of the Pennsylvania guberna- 
torial campaign, in the fall of 1882, an earnest editorial appeal 
was addressed to Governor Hoyt to come out from among the 
foes of the people, to strike a courageous blow for manly inde- 
pendence, the rights of citizenship and the true principles of the 
party with which he had all his life been honorably and usefully 
allied. At noon the following day this telegram was sent, in 
reply to the letter which accompanied a copy of the article re- 
ferred to: 

Harrisburg, November 3rd, 1882. 
To Edwin K. Hart, 
Philadelphia. 

I will answer your kind letter by telegraph this afternoon, be- 
fore you go to press. 

(Signed) HENRY M. HOYT. 

An hour later, another message was received, which said: "Hold 
your afternoon edition. You will get the response you wish." 



This showed that the Governor had burned his bridges and was* 
about to march forward, with the friends of honest politics and 
good government. He had been invited to address a meeting of 
Independent Republicans, to be held in Philadelphia, the same 
evening; but, in strict accord with the policy of dignified neutral- 
it}'' which he had theretofore maintained, he had made no reply, 
and did not propose to break silence at this late hour. But the 
crucial time had come. The editorial and personal appeal made 
to him was headed: 'This Way, Governor." It fell into the hands 
of members of his family who, as he afterwards stated, with deep 
gratitude, used it for all it was worth. He sat down to write his 
answer, which was to become historic, sending for his friend, 
Professor Charles J. Little, of Dickinson College, who was State 
Librarian. In a short time the wires were hot with a message 
which electrified the citizens of a long suffering commonwealth. 
As a mere matter of formality, the communication was publicly 
addressed to the members of the committee who had asked him 
to speak, but the first they knew of it was when they read the 
burning sentences in the evening papers. Governor Hoyt, with 
heartfelt earnestness and absolute loyalty to the truth, said: 

A courageous blow for freedom. 

"When standing room is no longer allowed to the members of 
a political party with a margin for self-respect ; when its lines be- 
come simply coterminous with the limits of some usurping dy- 
nasty; when in all the space between abject submission and rebel- 
lion no place is given for appeal, argument or protest, revolution 
is an appropriate remedy. All proud and generous minds will re- 
sist the imposition of serfdom and will leave to villains and retain- 
ers their badges of servitude to the intruding feudal system. 
There is an undeniable justification for your uprising. Its grounds- 
are open and plain to the people, whether accepted or not. This 
the tens of thousands of the best instructed, most conscientious and 
spirited citizens who have joined in this method of uprooting pal- 
pable public wrongs attest; other tens of thousands of such citizens 
sympathize with you and only doubt whether your heroic surgery 
is the best treatment. 

"I am fully advised of the methods of vengeance being con- 
trived for those now considered in revolt. Some of these 'rebels,' 
nay, most of them, are among the most courageous spirits in the 



1 9 

state. They know the humiliation it costs proud men to have 
masters; their moral power crushed out in repeated calls to sur- 
render to the gross demands of those who only see in party suc- 
cess the means of patronage-distribution, and that made in the 
interest of personal power. When I reflect upon the humiliation 
put upon myself as Chief Magistrate for resisting some of the 
purposes of the machine which puts politics above administrative 
propriety, and when I reflect upon the force of the insulting meth- 
ods applied to myself by means of threats, intrigue and bad faith, 
I realize some of Cardinal Woolsey's regrets that he had not 
served his God with one-half the zeal he had his King. 

A warning to the people. 

"In the name of decency and in behalf of my successor, I wish to 
emphasize the curse of the whole business and sound a note of 
warning to the whole people. Self-respect compels me to this 
avowal. Nor will peace and reform ever come until the moral 
forces in politics you have organized prevail. If their courage be 
added to their conviction the masses of voters will promptly rally 
to your standards and aid you to an overflowing success; and 
such is the duty of the voters of Pennsylvania. The logic of the 
situation which confronts you and which confronts the electors 
of the state, demands a speedy decision and final result. With 
such a triumphant outcome the Republican voters at least will 
have rescued their party from present peril and from future out- 
rages. Thus, no revenges will be left outstanding, for no re- 
venges will be possible; brutal schemes of slaughter, now con- 
templated, will be abandoned, and the factional stiletto and the 
guillotine, now prepared for 'bolters' and 'rebels,' will not be put 
to their intended use. 

"In the future the halls of the Lochiel House, at Harrisburg, 
will no longer resound with the tread of claquers hastily sent to 
summon self-respecting and honorable delegates of the people to 
a base submission to 'slated' tickets and prearranged programmes, 
threatened with ostracism in case of non-compliance, or sent home 
dishonored to face the angry constituents whom they have be- 
trayed. With your ultimate success will have been made an ex- 
hibition of moral courage in our state and the reaping of beneficial 
results from peaceful methods which shall more grandly than ever 
demonstrate the capacity of the people for self-government. I am 






•conscious that I utter thoughts and feelings which stir to their 
depths the minds and hearts of thousands in this great Common- 
wealth." 

In a personal letter, addressed to the editor, which followed this 
ringing declaration of independence, Governor Hoyt said: "I 
thank vou from the bottom of my heart." 




21 



II. 




>< Let us take a look at some of the familiar rulers of the 
time. Their sinister faces and leading characteristics 
will be recognized in every part of this country." 

THE preceding brief, but most sugges- 
tive historical review, is given, simply 
to show that to Pennsylvania belongs 
the most unenviable distinction of hav- 
ing brought forth a system of political 
management, a code of political im- 
morality and degradation, the like of 
which was never dreamed of by the 
founders of the Republic; the demor- 
alizing influence of which has extend- 
ed far and wide. In more than half the states to-day, this method, 
in varying degrees of boldness, cunning and viciousness, is en- 
trenched as the practice of characterless adventurers, mercenary 
political traders and unworthy aspirants for public place and pow- 
er. The legitimate organization of great parties has been taken 
possession of by men without principle, and is brazenly used for 
selfish purposes, regardless of the public welfare. 

In every great city the people have been called upon to submit 
to the most corrupt misgovernment. Almost every state has been 
the scene of disgraceful betrayal of public trust, of revelations that 
put to shame honest and self-respecting American citizenship. 
Special legislation has been a destroying evil vainly contended 
against, even by constitutional revision. The adoption of a new, 
foreign and complicated system of voting, intended to guard the 
sacredness of the freeman's ballot, is a stinging indictment of the 
whole nation. The citizen proposing such a reflection upon 
American honor and patriotism a generation ago, would have 
been outlawed as a slanderer of his race. Yet the most carefully 
framed statutes are made anew the means of fresh defiance of the 
popular will. The downward tendency is clearly evidenced on 
every hand, and the most depressing tiling to note is the strange 
ignorance, or seeming indifference, of the average voter, in town 



22 

and country, and in all parts of the land, concerning the perform- 
ances of what is so expressively termed the "machine." 

Its vigilance is sleepless. Its energy is untiring. 

Few persons not intimately acquainted with the ins and outs 
of political management, have anything like a correct idea of what 
constitutes this immense power in public affairs. It is generally 
known that there exist combinations of more or less influential 
professional politicians, with headquarters alternately at state 
and national capitals, which control and direct the practical oper- 
ations of party organizations, naming candidates, conducting bat- 
tles, and dividing spoils. The ramifications of these combinations, 
however, the number of. trained and obedient servants and the 
methods of work are mysteries to most people. The controlling 
principle with those concerned, and that which makes their ag- 
gressive unity a tremendous power, is self-interest. It is a league 
of selfish men, actuated one and all by selfish motives. The ma- 
chine cares nothing for public policy, party integrity or consist- 
ency; the one object of its promoters is to retain power indefinitely. 
In every battle, it fights for self-preservation and every member 
of the organization makes direct personal application of this fact 
to himself and acts accordingly. Its vigilance is sleepless. Its 
energy is untiring. It never takes unnecessary risks, and is never 
satisfied with anything less than absolute certainty of success. It 
sometimes quarrels with itself — but always to itself and not in the 
face of the enemy. Insubordination of that character is quickly 
and effectively stamped out, and the machine army marches on, 
with closed lines, as one man. 

A vast army of place-men, or expectants, is thus subject to thor- 
ough discipline and control. No office is too great, or too small, 
to be neglected or overlooked. The chain is composed of many 
links and it is watched at every point. It is quite impossible for 
any one not vouched for by a trusted local "leader" to receive any 
recognition whatever at county, municipal, state or national head- 
quarters. He will be frozen out instantly. No one can success- 
fully aspire to a "regular" nomination for any place, however 
humble and unimportant, who has not faithfully and efficiently 
served in the ranks ; who has not been tested in some sharp con- 
test; whose "loyalty" can for one moment be questioned; who is 
not considered perfectly "safe." A hungry man cannot get a 



2 3 

-day's work, at public employment, on the streets, or the rural 
highways, without the favor of some petty political tyrant who 
''runs" the town, the precinct, or the township. He cannot get a 
job to whitewash the school-house, or to carry coal into a public 
building, unless he is acceptable, in a political sense, to a reliable 
representative of the dominant ''organization." 

When a contest is on each man is expected to control the votes 
of from three to six active adherents, relatives and friends, per- 
sonally interested in his retaining his place. Every one knows 
what is expected of him, and he does the work assigned with zeal 
and efficiency, and often without regard to the letter or the spirit 
of the law, taking his chances as to the consequences, confidently 
looking for protection to those whom he thus serves. He is ready 
to obey every order before it is given. He knows the politics 
and the political inclinations of every man in his neighborhood 
and constitutes himself a missionary to make votes. He begins 
early and works late. He takes off his coat in May or June, for 
instance, and does not put it on until the votes are counted and 
returned, for there is often work to do after the polls close; and 
if contests arise, the machine man knows what is expected of him, 
.and does not hesitate to do it. 

They push the button — the voters do the rest. 

Let us take a look at some of these familiar rulers of our time. 
Their prototypes may be found in every community. Their sin- 
ister faces and leading characteristics will be recognized in every 
part of this country. The more's the pity. There comes "Car- 
rots." He may once have had another name; he is supposed to 
he registered, on the assessor's list; but this will answer for every 
day use. A country roust-a-bout, working but little; a tavern 
loafer; acquainted with all the lower elements; always ready for 
shady work of any sort. He has intelligence enough to be of 
great service at times to the chief township worker, who regards 
him as one of his right-hand men. His suggestive motto is : "A 
litte of the stuff goes a long ways down here." And it does. 

Jerry Plug is sometimes a lightning-rod peddler; at others, an 
.auctioneer, or justice of the peace, occasionally an indifferent vil- 
lage merchant. He knows every voter in the neighborhood and 
is regularly subsidized for machine work. He looks after asses- 
sors and election officers, circulates campaign literature and also 



2 4 

secretly the kind of slanderous and damaging tales frequently- 
used tO' carry out the disreputable plans of his superiors. He will 
tell you, confidentially: "Leathery always leaves this township to 
me." The trust is seldom misplaced — provided there is no mis- 
carriage in the timely dispensation of the customarv "considera- 
tion." 

"Slippery Bill-yus" is a characteristic specimen of the colored 
brother, in the rural districts, who has been taught that he can do 
better on election day than "hoein' taters or huskin' co'n." It is 
a most lamentable fact that in some sections the recently enfran- 
chised voters, many of whom are below the average grade of in- 
telligence, have been made the victims of demoralization, the ef- 
fects of which must be felt for many years to come. A noted 
country politician, who had adopted what he was pleased to regard 
as practical methods, one day received in his mail the following 
significant epistle: 

"Mistah Lossing: — 
"My deah sir, 

"I received your letter and was much pleased to hear from you. 
I'se heard much 'bout you. I'se read 'bout you in de papers and 
heard you speak, and I'se strongly 'sposed to give you my support, 
provided you comes to see me and complies wid de usual regula- 
tions among gemmen in politics. 

"Spectably, 

"S. BILL-YUS." 

Of course, this communication meant but one thing, and it re- 
ceived prompt attention. Upon another occasion "Slippery Bill- 
yus" confidentially told one of his friends that he could not be 
for Mistah Bill this trip; he was goin' to be for Mistah Jim, and 
he added: "After de 'lection, I'se gwine to git half a pig." The 
other half no doubt was distributed where it would bring the result 
desired. 

Jeems Leathery is an expert, experienced and skillful campaign 
manager, who knows how to "fry the fat." He can always "scare 
the business men." He gets in his "fine work" in every close 
contest and feathers his own nest through the use and abuse of the 
machinery of his party. His motto is: "The fat goose loves to be 
plucked." 



25 

"The only people fooled are the people." 

Hon. Tompkins Broadaxe is an ambitious, crafty, unscrupulous, 
rural speculator, who gets rich through dubious efforts, spends his 
money with a lavish hand, amongst the worst classes of political 
workers, reaches Congress, where his ignorance and vanity make 
him discreditably conspicuous; he finally strikes bottom, finan- 
cially, and faces gaping prison doors. He will tell you that he 
believes in "methods which produce results." 

Hon. Jeremiah Bumbkin is a glib-tongued, shallow pated, con- 
scienceless, shiftless, scheming country politician, who first gets 
into a petty county office, then into the legislature, becomes a 
bankrupt, a swindler and a fugitive- from justice. Bumbkin is 
thoroughly trained in the ways of popular deception. He will go 
about amongst his neighbors, blandly assuring everybody that 
he will faithfully represent his people on all occasions, and vote 
"for the best man," for Senator. He will solemnly declare that 
he is "no man's man;" that there is no collar upon his neck; that 
no one has secretly arranged with him for his vote, and that he 
would consider it beneath his dignity to give any promise or 
pledge, as to the Senatorship or anything else. Then the inquir- 
ing voter turns away, stuffed to the chin with this kind of ready- 
made machine drivel, while Bumpkin will shake hands with him- 
self that he has succeeded once more in fooling the people. He 
proudly declares, to his intimate friends, that "politics pays better 
than farming." 

Judge Smugg is a free and easy member of the judiciary, who 
is ever ready to condone political crimes for the protection of his 
friends and supporters. He openly winks at corrupt and glaring 
violations of the law. Upon one occasion, when remonstrated 
with, for permitting the unlawful naturalization of great crowds 
of ignorant and unworthy foreigners, who had no just claims to 
citizenship, Judge Smugg coolly replied: "Oh, Jim (the Prothono- 
tary) is only making a little money." 

In town and country, the machine has its representative char- 
acters. One of these is "Bucky" Heeler, who boasts that he al- 
ways carries his division, no matter by what methods, or at what 
risk, for he is "the man with a pull." He is a typical city rounder 
and promoter of fraudulent elections. He runs a low-down sa- 
loon, keeps tab on repeaters and does some of the most disrepu- 



26 

table work of political managers, who are powerful enough to 
protect him and his associates from the just consequences of their 
crimes against' decent politics and honest government. 

This is the man who must be "seen." 

When Lije Crook appears upon the scene, you may always 
conclude that he is revolving in his degraded mind the one ques- 
tion the answer to which invariably controls his action, namely, 
"What's in it for me?" This personage of the time has no osten- 
sible means of livelihood. He holds no official position and could 
not be elected to the lowest place by the votes of the people. Yet 
he assumes liberties in public offices not allowed to other men, 
lives like a rich man, runs the machine with arbitrary dictation, 
sets up and knocks down aspirants for public place and exercises 
a powerful influence in all departments of municipal life. He is 
secretly interested in local legislation with money in it, and in 
contracts. He is uneducated, but apes the airs and manners of a 
gentleman of means, leisure and taste, and often has free entrance 
to the inner councils of great corporations, who use him to ac- 
complish their own selfish purposes. 

Dan McSwiggin is a scheming, unscrupulous municipal job- 
ber. He poses in the community as a real estate operator, or pro- 
moter of mysterious business enterprises, but really makes a fat 
living and much more, through his position as a member of Coun- 
cils, serving without salary, and having a thrifty finger in every 
pie. He is the companion and confidant of men of his class, all 
the while making loud pretense of seeking to promote, with un- 
selfish zeal, the public interests. His assurance is amazing. He 
is full of tricks for deceiving the people and moves along in his 
pathway with utter disregard of the ethics supposed to prevail 
amongst men of honorable repute and commendable purposes. 
McSwiggin. upon one occasion, asked a leading public man of 
great influence, to help him in a tight place, to come and speak a 
good word to his constituents. Knowing the audacious request 
to be in vain, the suggestion was made: "Let me publish your 
name for one of my meetings; then write me a letter regretting 
that you cannot come. That will do me a heap of good." 

Hon. Easy Smiler goes about the business districts kindly oblig- 
ing his pliable mercantile friends through making false returns, 
thus cheating the state, in return for favors received and expected 



2 7 

by himself and his political partners and chiefs. This well-dress- 
ed, smooth-mannered, sleek, mercantile appraiser, or tax-assessor, 
will enter the counting room with his all-the-year-round smile, 
and simply remark: "Ah — about the same as last year, I suppose?" 
The business of the firm may have doubled, but all concerned 
readily yield to the seductive influence of Mr. Smiler. 

An interesting quartette of the time. 

A representative "man of business" is Mr. DeWellington High- 
flyer, who forgets his obligations to the state, and secretly co- 
operates with its enemies to advance his own selfish interests. He 
will indignantly declare that merchants are being "taxed to death," 
but his public proclamation of virtuous indignation is not con- 
sistent with his practice in standing in with the machine and en- 
couraging official wrong-doing. Mr. Highflyer sometimes goes 
into the reform business, but he is as transparent as window-glass, 
and always fails to command public respect and to secure an influ- 
ential following. 

A most interesting every-day character in American political 
life to-day, especially in all our great cities, is our peculiar friend, 
Ebenezer Pinhook. He is always in evidence in every reform 
movement; narrow, jealous, opinionated, penurious and a stum- 
bling-block generally, though seemingly all the time unconscious 
of the latter fact. He insists upon every occasion: "We reformers 
should stick together." But there is no cohesive power in move- 
ments thus originated and conducted. Pinhook is familiarly re- 
ferred to by the politicians, who repeatedly hoodwink him, as 
"Granny Gooseberry." 

No man of the time cuts a larger swath than the ambitious mil- 
lionaire in politics, the Hon. Oily Rocks. Vain and arrogant, 
he parades his alleged virtues and money-making abilities. He 
seeks to buy the support of the machine, flattering men whom he 
despises and overlooking offenses committed in his own interest, 
and those of his friends. He loftily declares that statesmanship 
"is a mere matter of business." And with him — it is. 

Prof. Theophilus Beetle indignantly disclaims being a part of 
the machine, yet he serves its purposes quite as effectually as many 
others of different character. The Professor is a typical book- 
worm, absorbed in his studies and scientific investigations, whose 
rare appearance at the polls is a mystery to the workers. Upon 



28 

one occasion he was kindly asked if he could read; if he needed 
any assistance in preparing his ballot. The incident was highly 
suggestive. Professor Beetle is full of contempt for practical 
politicians and votes about once in twenty years; and then wonders 
why we have bad government. 

The men who grease the ways. 

At every state capitol Oliver Slick, Esq., is a most conspicuous 
and influential person. He is a legislative lobbyist, who thriftily 
combines two vocations. He is the well paid servant of a power- 
ful corporation, whilst in his public capacity, as a member of the 
legislature, he is making pretense that he is the sworn foe of mo- 
nopolies of every sort. He delights to pose as the champion of 
labor, yet uses his official opportunities and professional skill to 
prevent the enactment and enforcement of just laws in the interest 
of those who toil. When driven into 1 a corner and compelled to 
explain his connection with unpopular measures, he will blandly 
reply that his services "were purely professional." 

A fit companion of the lobbyist on the floor of the legislature 
is Simon Sneak, an ex-member, secretive and unscrupulous; the 
secret agent of corruption, a professional perjurer, whose influ- 
ence for evil cannot be estimated. His brazen motto is: "Every 
man has his price," and he goes about his disreputable business- 
with no compunction of conscience. He never had a conscience. 

Major Dan Hornblower rises to declare, upon every suitable 
occasion : "the sacred calling of journalism appeals to my highest 
instincts." Here is a prince of Pharisees in the newspaper world,, 
always posing as the valiant champion of reform, while secretly 
plotting with the worst enemies of the people. The Major is a 
graduate of the lowest school of political iniquity. He ostenta- 
tiously parades his assumed virtues, yet revels in midnight in- 
trigue with the enemies of good government, giving his support 
to their nefarious plans. The machine has no more effective co- 
worker in its ranks anywhere than Major Hornblower. 

Governor Brass represents an executive combination, all too 
familiar these days, of moral weakness, physical courage, vanity, 
ambition, subserviency, contrariness, demagogism and inconsis- 
tency. He is always looking to the White House, but is already 
higher than his merits and ability warrant. Governor Brass as- 
tonished a war artist, who had failed to appreciate his greatness in 



2 9 

making a picture for the state capitol, leaving him out of the 
-scene graphically portrayed. Asked where he might be placed, 
his characteristic reply was : "Put me on that high stump." 

The vote seller and the vote buyer. 

There is no evil connected with the political system of this coun- 
try more to be deplored than that which covers the mercenary 
practices of men without principles, but who use their opportuni- 
ties simply to promote their own personal ends. There is not a 
state in the Union, and no large city, in which there may not be 
found a band of political Hessians, ever ready to serve in secret, 
and sometimes openly, the opponents of the political organizations 
to which they ostentatiously profess allegiance. The conditions 
of life in great cities are peculiarly favorable to such operations. 
The political "striker" can therein make himself useful to those 
who utilize his services and at the same time keep himself from 
public observation. Political managers are responsible for the 
•existence of the Hessian and his presence in any campaign is a 
lasting discredit to all concerned. He is loud in his public decla- 
rations of party fealty. He is openly opposed to any affiliation 
with the "enemy." He demands earnest support for his party 
ticket. He then straightway sneaks between the lines, under 
cover, and makes his secret "deal." The motto of the Hessian is: 
"No cash, no vote." 

Hon. Patsey Boliver raises his eyebrows to make the observa- 
tion that "the only people fooled are the people," and he knows 
what he is talking about. He is the full fruitage of Donegalism, 
a product of the time that will be studied by future historians with 
curious interest. He holds high official position, although utterly 
unfitted therefor. He poses as a statesman, yet he is never able 
to intelligently and efficiently discuss public questions. He is an 
arrant fraud; a vicious enemy of decent politics, popular govern- 
ment and American institutions. 

After all, the kind of service here merely touched upon as in- 
dicative of things present, and things to come, until there is a 
popular awakening, a stirring of the public conscience, a brave 
and successful revolt against machine methods and iniquity, a pa- 
triotic assertion of true Americanism, generally brings in the end 
a most unsatisfactory return. The whole land is afflicted with 
political wrecks, the misfortunes of whom sometimes appeal to the 



sympathies of the generous minded and large hearted. At the 
beginning of every national administration the capital is filled with 
a despairing and disconsolate army of place seekers, a great pro- 
portion of these being men who formerly occupied comparatively 
high place in professional or public life. A year ago there were 
over eighty applicants for every place at executive disposal. The 
multiplied sorrows of those turned away empty makes an ocean 
of lasting misery. But there is one spot untouched by the feel- 
ings akin to ordinary humanity. "They have hearts of stone, ,y 
was the plaintive wail of a faithful servant of the political machine,, 
who had witnessed an illustration of the base ingratitude of men 
who care for nothing but the promotion of their own selfish in- 
terests. 

Hearts of stone — Hands of steel. 

Verily, this observation was more than justified; yet no experi- 
enced person is surprised at such instances of betrayal of confi- 
dence and trust. The machine has a heart of stone. It cannot 
be made to feel. It has no sympathy, either with honorable am- 
bition, or the spirit of true patriotism. It cares nothing for the 
dignity of the commonwealth, the honor of the nation, or the in- 
terests of the people; much less is it concerned as to the fortune, 
or misfortune, of its creatures, no matter how faithfully they may 
have served it, who later may strike hard lines. In the arena of 
so-called practical politics the susceptible sentimentalist is sadly 
out of place. The professional politician who reaches that point 
where he can command the obsequious services of others is un- 
moved by the obligations which are supposed to govern the ac- 
tions of other men. He is always looking to the main chance, and 
sheds no tears over those who stumble and fall by the wayside. 
Hearts of stone! A just characterization of selfish political man- 
agers, one which conveys a warning to those tempted to sacrifice 
their manhood. It is cold-blooded indifference alike to public and 
private interests which enables the leaders of mercenary combi- 
nations to traffic in votes and to make a mockery of the duties of 
honest citizenship. 



3« 



III. 



44 Executive officers weakly surrender to influences hostile to 
good government. — 4 1 had to put some sugar on the 
spoon for the Senator.'** 

The three great departments in American government are ex- 
ecutive, legislative and judicial. The theory of the founders of 
the Republic was, that the chosen representatives of the people, 
in their collective wisdom, should make wise, just and beneficent 
laws, these to be intelligently and faithfully administered by men 
specially selected with regard to their peculiar fitness for the per- 
formance of executive duties. It was not intended, however, 
that such officers should be in any wise embarrassed through sel- 
fish demands for consideration on the part of political supporters, 
or other persons, whether connected with any branch of the gov- 
ernment or not. No one could foresee what the misuse of exec- 
utive power would amount to, many years later. To-day, ap- 
pointments to office occupy a very large part of the time of execu- 
tive officers, who should give close and faithful attention to other 
and more weighty matters. 

A system has grown up which simply makes these public ser- 
vants the harassed and more or less pliable creatures of circum- 
stances, the willing or unwilling tools of those who insist upon 
having claims which must be satisfied through the distribution of 
public patronage. What is known as the political machine could 
never have come into existence, but for this complete perversion 
of official power. If executive officers were at all times wholly 
free from undue influence, they would exercise the power of ap- 
pointment with much greater satisfaction to the people. In very 
many cases there is a weak surrender to influences hostile to good 



32 

government. All appointments made are not below the grade 
demanded by true regard for the public interests, but in very many 
instances men of high character and superior ability are set aside, 
in order that the unworthy claims of others may be satisfied; that 
political debts may be discharged through the misuse of official 
responsibility. 

Civil service reform has made headway in the face of unrelent- 
ing opposition, and if its friends relax their vigilance and energy 
all that has been gained will be lost. The pressure for place in- 
creases from year to year and is not confined to the federal gov- 
ernment. It extends throughout every state and is the bane of 
every municipality. One of the most suggestive and demoraliz- 
ing results of present methods is the personal and official degra- 
dation of executive officers, who live in an atmosphere of insin- 
cerity, duplicity, ingratitude, intrigue and treachery. Illustrations 
of this are daily multiplied under the eyes of unprejudiced ob- 
servers. Presidents, Cabinet officers, Governors, Mayors and 
heads of lesser departments are all affected by the prevailing vice 
cf misguided ambition to serve in public place. They fall almost 
unconsciously into the most cowardly and despicable habits of 
deception. With uniform outward courtesy, every applicant is re- 
ceived and sent away hopeful, when seventy to ninety per cent, 
are doomed to bitter disappointment. Delegations of leading 
citizens travel long distances, only to be blandly assured that their 
urgent request will be "taken into the most careful consideration," 
when the office to be filled, at the demand of some political leader, 
has long been assigned to some one else, not yet publicly named. 

Two incidents of to=day. 

A national executive, upon one occasion, promised a personal 
caller, who had been highly indorsed for a responsible position, 
that the matter "would be taken up soon," thus leaving the im- 
pression, as clearly intended, that the way was still open to all 
comers. The moment the unsuspecting visitor turned his back, 
in high spirits, the accompanying Congressional sponsor was cool- 
ly informed that a selection for the office desired was made some 
time previous. And this kind of shameless double-dealing — for it 
is nothing else — is practiced, and often with peculiar aggravation, 
by officials who pretend to be guided in all things by the very 
highest moral code. It is these exhibitions of inexcusable Phari- 



33 

■seeism that make men turn from such leaders with unspeakable 
-contempt. Those responsible for the evil impressions thus made 
will have an awful account to meet. 

A Cabinet officer, who carried with him into the federal service 
an ostentatious air of the most pronounced superiority to other 
men, surprised and pained his friends and delighted his secret 
foes — who despised him for his pitiable subserviency, his deplor- 
able lack of manhood — through the most persistent advocacy of 
the unworthy "claims" of two notorious political crooks, and who 
were appointed to responsible positions at his personal request. 
When remonstrated with, this counterpart of Oily Rocks, sheep- 
ishly piped: "I had to put some sugar on the spoon for the Sen- 
ator!" And this class of mercenary weaklings frequently pose as 
the valiant champions of "reform," the determined opponents of 
the machine; the uncompromising advocates of pure politics and 
honest government; the courageous leaders who summon the peo- 
ple to heroic battle for their "emancipation;" the self-sacrificing 
patriots who are ready to engage in a new crusade for independ- 
ence; to hold aloft anew the banner of '76, and proclaim liberty to 
all inhabitants of the land. It is no wonder the political Philis- 
tines laugh and are merry when confronted with such ornamental 
paper soldiers of fortune, such weak and false hearted leaders, who 
only secure the confidence of the people to betray them into the 
hands of their enemies. 

The things that have never been told. 

Yielding to the wishes and audacious prowess of conscienceless 
political managers in the matter of appointments, executive offi- 
cers next become an easy prey to the leeches that fatten at public 
expense. One evil step is quickly followed by others. Through 
legislative connivance, needless offices are multiplied, salaries un- 
deservedly raised, sinecures increased, for the benefit of specially 
useful creatures of the machine. In almost every department 
thus placed at the mercy of public pirates, there are secret scandals 
never unearthed. There seems to be no such thing as personal 
conscience. Pennsylvania is to-day without a state capitol, 
through the neglect — or worse — of public officials and the schem- 
ing of a corrupt cabal, determined not to let pass any opportunity 
to reap dishonest millions. In one great state, an expensive capi- 
tol was scarcely finished before the lives of legislators therein were 



34 

endangered through a misconstructed imposing ceiling. In a 
score of others there have been similar conspiracies against the 
public treasury. It would seem, indeed, that no public building 
can be erected in these times in accordance with the plain princi- 
ples and methods which prevail in the business world. In one 
great city over five million dollars have been deliberately stolen 
in the erection of an ugly pile of municipal buildings, a lasting 
monument to official extravagance and dishonesty, and the end 
is not yet, although a quarter of a century has passed since the 
work was commenced. 

How a faithful Executive can serve the people. 

The people do not realize how their interests are sacrificed 
through the weakness and negligence of executive officers. A 
vigilant, resolute and faithful Governor can save millions to the 
taxpayers of his state. He can check mischievous jobs without 
number. He can slay wriggling "snakes" by the score. He can 
hold up unscrupulous schemers and baffle the corrupt hirelings of 
law-defying corporations. He can make the pavements of the 
capital blister the feet of Oliver Slick and Simon Sneak and all 
their pestilent tribe of speculators in public franchises. He can 
banish the briber and compel the crooked legislator to walk a 
straight road, or fetch up behind the bars. He can enforce laws, 
of the commonwealth against offenders who bask in the sunshine 
of official delinquency. He can thrust back the insolent traders 
in judicial and other important appointments, who thus seek to 
entrench themselves in power. 

A model Executive can set a high example of personal and offi- 
cial honor and fidelity and exercise a mighty influence for good in 
a thousand ways. He can inspire good citizenship and greatly 
promote loyalty to fundamental American ideas. He is at liberty 
at all times, on public occasions, when the people assemble, and 
where he is always more than welcome, to speak with far-reaching- 
effect upon the issues which affect the public welfare. It is his 
high privilege to be a leader as well as a commander of the people 
and to render service of inestimable value to present and future 
generations. To fill such an office is well worthy the ambition of 
any man. Alas, how few seem to comprehend its possibilities; 
how few measure up to its exalted requirements; how few render 
a full account of their high stewardship. Instead, there is often 



35 

seen a strange compound of physical courage and moral weakness, 
vain ambition, subserviency, contrariness, demagogueism and in- 
consistency. "Governor Brass" fills too large a space in Ameri- 
can history. 

Unhappily, the vice of selfish ambition, the desire to promote 
personal advancement, regardless of consistent fidelity to duty 
and the public welfare, is too frequently present in the executive 
office. There is a ruinous longing for another place of higher 
honor and everything is made subsevient to this end, although 
almost uniformly without success. It is an interesting and signifi- 
cant fact to note in this connection that only six men who have 
been Governors of states have been elected to the Presidency 
by popular vote; yet there is reason to believe thai a large ma- 
jority of these officials, during the past twenty-five years particu- 
larly, mave at times dreamed more or less hopefully of being called 
up higher. 

He was looking to '02. The right man for Governor. 

A Governor-elect, who had served a term with popular satisfac- 
tion, upon being recalled by the people, immediately began to 
scheme, with his eye fixed upon the White House. A faithful 
friend asked him how he could so grievously dishearten his best 
advisors by taking into his official family men who did not pos- 
sess the public confidence. His significant reply was: "I am look- 
ing to '92 and I must have the party organization and its mana- 
gers with me." This was the dominant thought, but it was nurtured 
in vain; the dream vanished, like the morning mist before the sun. 
The idol was self-wrecked, cast down through fatal surrender, 
through the selfish schemes of men intent upon feathering their 
own nests, upon using public station to serve base purposes. The 
same disappointed aspirant for the Presidency, afterwards induced 
and virtually commanded, to run for a minor office, to help his 
political allies, returned to his home the night before election in 
high spirits. To an inquiring but doubtful friend he said, with 
great confidence: "It's all right. There is going to be a hurri- 
cane." There was; one which swept this unhappy slave of the 
machine into political oblivion. 

When a Governor is chosen the people of the State should al- 
ways take care to select a man of broad views, undoubted integ- 
rity, and inflexible purpose to meet the highest demands of such 



a responsible position. He should not be selected merely as a fig- 
urehead for the commonwealth, or as the representative of a great 
party, or the exponent of some special political or economic prin- 
ciple. When he takes office, if he has a true conception of the 
duties before him, he leaves partisanship behind, and goes forward 
as the faithful steward of the whole people. It is his privilege and 
his duty to observe comprehensively and in detail all that affects 
the entire community, and in this connection he should watch 
legislation even more closely than those engaged in this special 
work. 

The Governor represents no particular section, interest, or idea. 
He is sworn to obey the organic law and to uphold the vital prin- 
ciples contained therein. His routine duties, except while the 
legislature is in session, are such that he has ample time and op- 
portunity to visit every part of the state, to inform himself as to 
the public needs, the operation of laws, existing evils which may 
be remedied, etc. A Governor who is content to sit within the 
Executive Chamber, except when called therefrom by some urgent 
public duty, fails to comprehend his true relation to the common- 
wealth. He is almost sure to lack information and public spirit 
and to become the creature of selfish interests antagonistic to those 
of the people. 



f 



37 



IV. 



41 Heavy contributions are exacted and paid because they 
dare not be withheld. The treasury ring thus be- 
comes a seductive and treacherous friend; a cruel and 
relentless foe." 




THE collection, care and disburse- 
ment of public money is one of 
the gravest problems now before the 
people of the United States. Un- 
dreamed of growth of population, 
with consequent marvelous increase 
of taxable property and its value, 
has led to the receipt of vast reve- 
nues by cities and states. Even 
c=> ^-^ smaller communities and rural dis- 

tricts find this question one that is 
perplexing to deal with. It has 
been made quite clear that the ordinary method of requiring heavy 
bonds for the faithful performance of duty does not meet the case. 
The principle evil to be contended with is not direct misappro- 
priation of funds, although the aggregate of official defalcation 
during the past twenty-five years has been enormous. The aver- 
age public treasurer will not deliberately take what does not be- 
long to him; but he is constantly subject to temptation to specu- 
late with the money intrusted to his keeping. 

As a rule such an official can enter upon this course, to a limited 
extent, without detection, if nothing immediately goes wrong. 
With no guard upon him he can skillfully manipulate cash bal- 
ances so as to reap some personal advantage. He no sooner has 
the keys of the chest than the speculative tempter appears before 
him. All sorts of inducements are offered. He is flattered, ca- 
joled, and sometimes bullied by men who have a "pull;" political 
leaders, contractors, and others to whom he is under personal ob- 
ligation. He begins by studying how he can cover his tracks 
and often ends his official career ruined in character, reputation 
and estate. Within a comparatively short period there were over 



38 

forty defalcations of this kind in a single western state. Frequent- 
ly bank officers are discreditably mixed up in these affairs; some- 
times, indeed, they are the inciting cause. Such fiscal agents have 
been known to unite to protect public defaulters, the obvious pur- 
pose being to prevent their own exposure. It is undeniable that 
vigilance and a strict regard for the public interest on the part of 
bank presidents, cashiers, and directors would block the way of the 
public treasurer disposed to betray his trust. 

Where they revel in fat things. 

It is when a well organized combination of daring adventurers 
hold possession of a municipal or a state treasury that the public 
funds are brazenly used to promote selfish personal and political 
interests. In one great state a conspiracy of this kind has existed 
for a full generation. The use and misuse of the public money 
has been the main financial resource of these enemies of honest 
government. With a cash balance throughout the year, nearly 
all in two or three favored banks, of from $2,500,000 to $6,000,000, 
this treasury ring has kept itself in power, controlling all the de- 
partments of the state government almost uninterruptedly. Every 
attempt to bring about reform has failed. The Commonwealth 
has lost millions in interest, while the members of this unlawful 
combination have had from $250,000 to $400,000 a year with 
which to line their own pockets and to use in debauching the bal- 
lot and in promoting corrupt schemes. This in itself is bad 
enough, but another feature of this business is the evil influence 
exerted far and wide. Banks vie with each other in the effort to 
get on the list of official depositories, and when the favor is granted 
they are bound to the ring by hooks of steel and thousands of 
business men are reached and controlled, against their will and 
the protest of their consciences, through their financial exigencies. 
Heavy contributions are exacted and paid because they dare not 
be withheld. The treasury ring thus becomes a seductive and 
treacherous friend; a cruel and relentless foe. 

The people are systematically deceived. Periodical statements 
are published, purporting to show the disposition of the public 
money, but the real facts are skillfully concealed. Upon one oc- 
casion a mystified citizen asked a bank examiner how it was that 
a certain institution, supposed to be specially favored, only had on 
deposit, according to the published report, a comparatively small 



39 

sum of money. The reply was: "Why, don't you understand that? 
Just before the statement is made up the funds are scattered about, 
so as to make a proper showing. There is apparently no favorit- 
ism amongst some thirty banks. Everything seemingly is straight 
and above suspicion. Immediately thereafter the big chests are 
again filled, for the benefit of all concerned." It sometimes hap- 
pens, purely by accident, that a treasurer with right ideas and a 
backbone is encountered and then there is a gnashing of teeth, for 
.a season. When his term expires such a "crank," as he is con- 
temptuously called, is marked for life. He is never again per- 
mitted to come to the front, and the people, to their discredit be 
it said, fail to note their duty in the. premises. They act as though 
they rather enjoyed being plundered and give silent approval to 
the undeserved condemnation of a faithful public servant. 

Who is responsible for misgovernment? 

The evils of misgovernment in this country have reached a cul- 
minating stage where thoughtful citizens almost despair of relief. 
This is especially true of municipalities of larger growth. The 
•opportunities for using the official machinery thereof for unlawful 
purposes are without number. Men in all the business and profes- 
sional walks of life are too much absorbed with their own affairs to 
give constant and effective attention to public matters. They 
permit others, selfishly interested, to think for them and merely go 
through the motions, at stated periods, of exercising the highest 
rights of citizenship. They are the veriest slaves of unreasoning 
and self-blinded partisanship. They well know tnat political ques- 
tions properly have no place in local government; yet they permit 
themselves to be coaxed or driven to the polls merely to confirm 
the decrees of such creatures as Lije Crook and his political part- 
ners, of whose mercenary character and designs they are well 
aware, but whom they serve with an abject helplessness that is a 
sad reflection upon American manhood. Through the develop- 
ment of this parasitical life the people are plundered of vast sums 
of money in various ways. In every populous community there 
are troops of outwardly respectable vagabonds, allied with co- 
workers of a still lower grade, who live and fatten at public ex- 
pense. 

Lije Crook assumes to direct the selections for all important 
local offices and he readily commands the efficient support of all- 



4 o 

powerful influences, chiefly of a corporate character, and he can 
get into line thousands of deluded citizens. He has a perfect sys- 
tem of enrollment and inspection. His agents know every man's 
politics. They also know who can be influenced — for a consid- 
eration. They can place the money used where it will do the most 
good — for the machine. "Buckey" Heeler and his kind take care 
of wards and divisions. Dan McSwiggin and his counterparts- 
have no trouble in getting into and remaining in Councils, where 
they hold up everything until the toll is paid. Practically no 
contracts can be given out without some one on the inside getting* 
the award. Almost every dollar expended for repair, improve- 
ment or extension upon any part of the public works represents a 
certain percentage of bare-faced but well concealed theft. There 
is not a great American city to-day which could not save a* very 
large amount of money annually through turning over its affairs 
to some reliable and well conducted business concern. The most 
depressing thing about it all is the seeming paralysis which afflicts 
men of the highest character and reputation when they undertake 
the responsibilities of public place. 

He made a big strike in the reform business. 

One of these, upon taking charge of a great department, the 
employes of which were numbered by the thousand, was amazed 
and disguested at what he saw upon his first tour of inspection. 
Useless men were standing around the gas houses in each other's 
way. "How many of these can you dispense with?" was the 
query put to the Bureau Chief. The names of two hundred and 
seventy-five alleged "workers" were promptly furnished. The 
Director carefully looked over the list, and especially scanned the 
names of the political "backers," mostly Councilmen, concerned. 
He then, with great dignity and impressiveness, ordered two dis- 
missals, and almost immediately thereafter added three new men 
to the shamefully padded pay-roll, which he was required to for- 
mally approve every month before the money thus filched from 
the public treasury, at the rate of $100,000 a year, could be se- 
cured. And so ended that chapter. This was the mighty achieve- 
ment of a pronounced municipal "reformer"- — when in office. A 
big fire destroyed the horses used in the same bureau. No others 
were secured; but a $10,000 feed bill went right on, all the same, 
and hundreds of dollars also for "horse medicine," these audacious 



4i 

bills meeting official approval all the while. Even the once highly 
honored office of school director, which should always be filled by 
men of the highest character and purest purposes, is now often 
used as a means of public robbery. 

Municipal problems of the time. 

The present agitation throughout the country in favor of tem- 
porary or permanent transfer of public franchises to private corpo- 
rations, is a most significant result of the inexcusable neglect of 
the duties of citizenship. It is an indictment of the people of 
every town or city where such a step is made necessary by existing 
conditions. Why should not the needful work be done with effi- 
ciency, economy arid satisfaction, under the direction of well-paid 
public servants? Why, indeed! Simply because the evils at hand 
have become intolerable. The people's necessity becomes the cor- 
porations' opportunity and it is speedily taken advantage of. 
Where is this thing to end? When will taxpayers awake to a 
realization of their bounden duties? When will they re-establish 
and enforce the wise principles laid down at the beginning of free 
government in the new world? It is no longer merely a matter 
of dollars and cents. The gravest municipal problem is one of 
life and death. Bad government means bad water, unclean streets, 
imperfect sewerage, an inefficient health department, dangers seen 
and unseen on every hand. Almost every great American city, 
owing to the density of the neighboring population and the con- 
sequent pollution of streams, must do something to purify and pro- 
tect its water supply. This can readily and efficiently be done; 
but the work in very many instances will have to be placed in pri- 
vate hands, to insure decent compliance with the inexorable re- 
quirements of the time. Surely these things should cause an 
early and effective awakening in the public mind. Volumes could 
be written giving details of misgovernment, the causes and con- 
sequences thereof; but every intelligent citizen has but to look 
the situation squarely in the face to understand what is rightly 
demanded of him as the responsible unit of power in a republic. 
Let him highly resolve to do his part, with intelligence, true pa- 
triotism and steadfast courage. 



42 

The worst enemy of the Republic. 

In a recent address on "The Duty of Political Independence," 
William Dudley Foulke, of Indianapolis, made this striking ob- 
servation : 

"There is an evil here at home more certain and more deadly than 
the evils of war, a destroyer whose prey is not merly the bravest 
and best of the children of the Republic, but the Republic itself. 
The foe is not upon the sea; nor at the strand; he is before our 
doors; he is within the gates of our city; he passes us in the street; 
he is perhaps the guest at our fireside. The most evident danger 
is not the most real danger. The cobra is more destructive than 
the tiger. Slipping unseen and unheard into the dwellings of men, 
he strikes with deadly fang while the victim arises from slumber. 
The cobra in this great American Commonwealth is the man, 
who, for personal or party profit, makes traffic of the public wel- 
fare. The citizen who in city, state or nation buys or sells; for 
any consideration or advantage, vote, office or influence, is more 
than the mere enemy of the Republic. He is a traitor, as much so 
as Benedict Arnold. He has sold his country for base gain. To 
meet the foreign foe, we need the armies, fleets and enginery of 
war; to meet the foe at home, true, honest hearts, clear heads, devo- 
tion, enthusiasm, fortitude, but more than all do we need the spirit 
of American independence, eager as of old to throw off the yoke, 
not now of King or Parliament, but of party domination, and 
ready to hold the man or the faction that defiles its hands with 
the gold of corruption, as an alien and an enemy forever." 



f 



43 



V. 




«« The abuse of corporate power has done more to sow the 
seeds of discontent and to prepare the way for revolu= 
tion than anything else." 

THE law-makers of a nation should 
always faithfully represent its high- 
est intelligence and morality. This 
was the theory of the founders of the 
Republic and it was steadily adhered 
to, with few exceptions, until a gen- 
eration ago. The demoralizing ef- 
fects of the civil war have nowhere 
been more painfully illustrated than 
at the national and many of our state 
capitals. The legitimate compen- 
sation allowed members of General 
Assemblies is no inducement to fit men to thus serve the public, 
nor was it ever intended to be. It would be a fatal mistake to 
adopt a different policy. The mercenary instinct would at once 
develop and there would be an indecent scramble amongst small, 
unworthy and incompetent men to secure the places where they 
would be assured a large financial return for a few months' ser- 
vice, and where also they would find many other opportunities to 
satisfy their greed for gain. 

Nevertheless, the dominant thought in the minds of many — 
probably a large majority — in some populous states, who seek 
legislative nominations, is the eager desire to take advantage of 
supposed opportunities to get gain. Frankly asked how they 
expect to accomplish honorably this selfish end, these candidates 
will, of course, have nothing to say; indeed, they will indignantly 
disclaim any such purpose. But they have seen others marching 
up Capitol Hill empty handed and in a little while returning with 
evidences of substantial prosperity. Sometimes the legislature is 
merely used as a stepping stone to something better, in the way 
of public office, but there is always present a very active and influ- 
ential contingent who simply act the highwayman from the be- 



44 

ginning to the end of the session, and often this class is virtually in 
control of one or both houses. 

Bills are prepared with no intention of pressing them to final 
passage and no expectation that they will ever be seen upon the 
statute books. But the business interests thus threatened, it is 
confidently believed, will take the needful steps for self-protection. 
If some one tries to make a scandal, or exposure, he is speedily 
hustled out of the way and silenced. The minor offices are mul- 
tiplied until the whole thing becomes a farce. All sorts of sham 
investigations are set up and bogus contests for seats likewise, 
the sole purpose being to open the way for raiding the treasury. 
A specially arranged committee makes pretense of going off some- 
where, at great expense. The appropriation bill afterwards pre- 
sented would shame the father of lies. Thousands ot dollars are 
put down for alleged "car fare, sleeping berths, telegrams, etc.," 
when all hands traveled free and no one had any special tele- 
graphic business, or extra expenses of any kind. Hotel rates are 
trebled. The lightning calculator could not equal the perform- 
ance of the clerk in figuring up alleged expenses, while the ser- 
geant-at-arms simply makes a stupendous grab for mythical ser- 
vices. 

How the people's money goes. 

Such bills — open and shameless stealing — are passed without a 
word of protest and approved by a pliable Governor, solemnly 
sworn to see that the laws are faithfully executed. Great sums of 
money also have been stolen through the mileage and stationery 
swindles. The public printer furnishes an ever-present medium 
for legislative jobbery of all sorts. He never objects to printing 
anything called for, and at outside prices. Extravagance and 
waste run riot. Special legislation in disguise of the most vicious 
character is put through. The veto record, within recent years, 
has shown the measure of legislative degradation. Formerly it 
was unnecessary to exercise this power except in rare instances. 
A dozen disapprovals for one session covered the field. Now the 
Executive who does not swing his axe fearlessly and at a lively 
rate simply allows the people to be plundered right and left. 

One of the most inexplicable things in this connection is the 
manner in which men who have always been models of upright- 
ness in their personal dealings, seem to take leave of their con- 



45 

sciences while in the public service. They will not only condone 
great crimes amongst. their associates; they will actually take their 
share of the plunder and go their way, without a thought appar- 
ently of wrong-doing. They will accept considerable sums of 
money, for instance, for trifling committee service, well knowing 
that the law does not permit them to receive any compensation, 
for any legislative service rendered, in addition to a fixed sum, 
always appropriated at the end of the session. There can be no 
doubt that the moral undermining here noted is productive of 
disastrous results in many ways. It make the victims of such de- 
plorable practices the easy prey of political free-booters ever after- 
ward. Further, it often leads them into the forbidden paths of 
personal dishonesty and degradation. There are unwritten chap- 
ters of this kind which would startle the people of every commu- 
nity concerned. 

Who are to blame? 

And who are to blame for the continuance of this ruinous state 
of affairs? The self-condemnatory answer is, the people them- 
selves, in great part, but not wholly. They allow Jeremiah Bump- 
kin, Lije Crook, Oliver Slick, Simon Sneak, Oily Rocks and all 
of their kind to use them for their own purposes. Bumpkin 
boastfully says that politics pay him better than farming. And 
this is true, until he becomes too reckless and defiant of decency, 
when he strikes bottom and disappears, often to be superseded by 
another misrepresentative of like odious character. Crook sends 
up a city delegation that is rank with rottenness. Slick serves 
his corporation masters with unscrupulous zeal and success. 
Sneak moves craftily about the lobby, acting as go-between and 
pay-master for the ambitious but unprincipled millionaire specula-* 
tor and aspirant for high political honors. Rocks holds his head 
high, with an air of affected purity and dignity, the very essence of 
insincerity and duplicity, while in full sympathy with the worst 
political crooks, whom he secretly employs to make his corrupt 
"deals" with men whom he pretends to despise, in whose company 
he would not be seen in public, but who revel in luxuries provided 
by his check-book. All these blighting forces work together to 
vitiate the very atmosphere where honest statesmanship should 
meet the demands of the people. 



4 6 

With a bag of gold or a rod of iron. 

The abuse of corporate power, in connection with legislation, 
has done more to sow the seeds of popular discontent and to pre- 
pare the way for violent revolution in the near future than any- 
thing else. A powerful lobby is maintained and weak men are 
swept from their feet and carried along in the maelstrom of iniqui- 
ty. The few brave spirits who try to stand their ground are over- 
borne. They speedily discover that continued opposition means 
certain political destruction, and if persisted in later, personal 
ruin. It is insolently assumed that the government belongs to 
the few, who are rich enough, daring enough and strong enough 
to rule, either with a bag of gold, or a rod of iron. It is boldly 
declared that nothing must be done to interfere with so-called 
"vested rights," by which is meant the right of millions to oppress 
the millions; the right to use official authority and power to pro- 
mote schemes of personal profit. The voice of the trust dictator 
is omnipotent in the legislatures of America to-day, municipal, 
state and national. It will not always be so. There will be a day 
of reckoning and when it comes there will be a national convul- 
sion, the like of which the world has never seen. In the coldest 
matter of fact way, those concerned with these things will regret- 
fully declare that there are two> sides to this question; that while 
it is too true undue influence is often exerted upon legislative 
bodies, this is a disagreeable necessity. That is to say, the people 
send such disreputable men to represent them in the halls of legis- 
lation, there is nothing to do but deal with such creatures on their 
own mercenary basis. 

In this to excuse is to accuse. The temporary success of the 
Bumpkins, Crooks, Slicks and Rocks would be utterly impossi- 
ble against a union of forces between the men of power in the 
commercial and financial world, and the men of brawn and brain 
in the shop, the field, the counting room and the study. It would 
be quite impossible for mercenary adventurers to get into public 
office, high or low, in town or country, if they were turned down 
at the start. It would be impossible for any corruptly inclined 
Senator, Congressman, legislator or councilman to succeed in any 
vicious scheme of public blackmail — for it is nothing less — if he 
knew that such an attempt would bring upon him instant expos- 
ure, relentless prosecution and just punishment. In a word, there 



47 

is no excuse for moneyed institutions being held up by political 
banditti. What is imperatively needed is an effective union of the 
moral, industrial and financial forces at all times against the public 
tyrants who afflict the land and who are building in the hearts 
and minds of the American people fires of patriotism and righteous 
indignation which can never be quenched until there is a thorough 
cleansing of the Augean stables of legislation. 

When will the galling fetters be broken ? 

How much longer is this co-operation for clean politics, honest 
government and the maintenance of American manhood to be de- 
layed? How much greater is to be the weight of woe piled upon a 
wronged and suffering people? How many more millions are to 
be wrung from weary toilers, the owners of small homes, which 
they have a hard time to hold these days, and struggling farmers, 
almost overcome with conditions against which they contend in 
vain? When is the limit to be set to needless taxation to sustain 
the operations of a vast army of public leeches, who use the ma- 
chinery of government to live in semi-idleness and luxury? How 
much further is the defiance of decent public sentiment to go? 
How much longer is this fearful strain upon American institutions 
to be borne? As these pages go to press, the national capital is 
crowded with mercenary self-seekers, freely using members of all 
branches of the government to aid them in inflaming the public 
mind and securing fat contracts under the War and Navy De- 
partments. Congressmen and Senators thus utilized will be effec- 
tively served in turn, when candidates for re-election, through ex- 
tra contributions for alleged "campaign expenses" and the exten- 
sion of personal favors in many ways. Is this not the most infa- 
mous kind of bribery? 

Let it be frankly admitted, with sorrow and shame, that the peo- 
ple in great measure are sadly to blame ; but let it also be fully re- 
membered and acknowledged that they cannot free themselves 
from the political Phillistines whilst the latter are entrenched be- 
hind the impregnable bulwarks of corporate power, their leaders 
being controlled, directed and well paid. They cannot successful- 
ly contend with the vandals who are upon them while the chief 
maurauders are practically in the service of the ruling classes. 
They cannot restore true American principles in a one-sided con- 
test with the political machine, while it is sustained by thousands 



48 

of millions of capital, guided by the clearest and strongest brains 
of the nation. This is the real situation, and it is high time the 
truth was plainly told and candidly admitted. What of the future? 
This question must be answered by the men who have permitted 
the ruinous Frankenstein in American politics to become such a 
mighty engine of evil and destruction. The issue must be met, 
and it must be met very soon. Men and brethren, stop and think. 
"Stop, look, listen." 




49 



VI. 

** Political managers receive vast sums of money and with 
brazen faces carry out plans of public debauchery which 
sap the foundations of the Republic. " 

THE use and abuse of money in politics is the con- 
itl iHSr^F^r^ sumingf peril of the nation. The origin, the growth 
jl iHIhHBI an d effects of this gigantic evil will form a subject 
T^^B of absorbing and most impressive study to the future 
historian. From comparatively small beginnings there has been 
established an audacious and tyrannical autocracy which defies all 
restraint, which determinedly seeks to control every avenue to 
public place and power. The inspiring and directing motive is 
the advancement of selfish personal and pecuniary interests. There 
is cynical contempt for true patriotism, an utter disregard of the 
principles of citizenship. Men are dealt with as though there was 
no such thing as personal honor. Tempation is thrown in the way 
of the weak and the needy. There is open collection and secret 
disbursement of vast sums of money, without an accounting even 
to the subscribers of campaign funds. Political managers de- 
mand and receive hundreds of thousands, and in national cam- 
paigns millions of dollars, and with brazen faces carry out plans 
of public debauchery that sap the very foundations of the Republic. 
It is a suggestive fact that both the great political parties of the 
time are equally blameworthy in this respect. The history of the 
past twenty-five years shows this in vivid colors. 

In the national contest of 1872, on one side, under the inspira- 
tion of senseless fears, there was considerable expenditure of 
money in several supposed to be doubtful states. But four years 
later there was a battle of the "bar'ls" the secret record of which 
no one concerned dare reveal. And the first public leader to chal- 
lenge his foes, through this degrading kind of conflict, owed his 
high position to a reputation for sworn enmity to corruption of 
every sort. But with his glittering eye, already dimmed with the 
weight of advancing years and the accumulating cares of wealth, 
fixed upon the White House, this misguided candidate for the 
highest office within the gift of the people set a vicious example to 



5° 

his associates and supporters and encouraged those nearest him 
to make subscriptions for campaign work larger than ever before 
thought of. On the other side, a daring and unscrupulous mana- 
ger, himself also a millionaire, used every financial resource at his 
command. It was a most shameful and demoralizing spectacle,, 
and the evil work continued for weeks following the election. The 
emissaries of one candidate bought electoral votes with promises 
of federal offices; those of the other, tried to steal them through, 
the use of money direct. Every man concerned in this wretched 
business later justly felt the stinging lash of public condemnation. 
On account of it, a President, who seemed honestly desirous of do- 
ing his duty, walked through fires seven times heated, and- went 
even to his tomb, a dozen years after his retirement, bending un- 
der the weight of lasting censure, while his unsuccessful rival sank 
into helpless senility, covered with the slime of degradation. 

For sale to the highest bidder — the Presidency. 

From that baleful period the blighting influences of the satanic 
tempters in American politics have been ever present, and in in- 
creasing power. The deliberate buying of a United States Sena- 
torship, in 1857, forever disgraced a great state. The buying of 
the Presidency, in 1876-7, forever disgraced the nation. The one 
incident might have been forgotten; the other has been prolific 
of crimes against the ballot and political decency and honor with- 
out number, and often of startling magnitude and far-reaching 
effects. After the national election of 1880, the Vice-President- 
elect, at a public dinner, with the effrontery of a Belshaazer, boast- 
ed that a pivotal western state had been carried by "a liberal use of 
— soap!" The man who ordered the distribution thereof, as the 
responsible campaign manager, as it was afterwards revealed, had 
made his "bar'l" — of soap — plundering the government of the 
United States as a contractor, and, through the irony of fate, he 
was brought to exposure and banishment under the administration 
which he had thus corruptly created. 

In another national campaign an immense sum ot money was 
raised for untrustworthy managers, at the last hour, by reputable 
men, who did not dare ask what it was to be used for, and one 
of whom openly declared that he did not want to know. In an- 
other national contest, foreign gold played a controlling part in 
deciding the election, aided by the schemes of an ambitious young 



5i 

western millionaire, who thus vainly sought to rise into high 
place. In the last national battle of the "bar'ls" the expenditure 
of money exceeded anything ever imagined in this or any other 
country. There were adroitly carried out schemes of public de- 
ception never before thought of. The people were led to believe 
that vast numbers of enthusiastic partisans were journeying to the 
home of a presidential candidate to voluntarily assure him of their 
fealty. As a matter of fact, the whole affair, aside from the few 
small expeditions, at the beginning, was a shrewdly arranged plan 
to offset in the public mind the effect of the other energetic can- 
didate's extraordinary swing around the circle. The "spontane- 
ous tribute" of over seven hundred thousand working men, farm- 
ers, and others was the result of skillful manipulation of unsus- 
pecting voters, many of whom, in the employ of large corpora- 
tions, were virtually impressed into service. Somebody "paid the 
freight." It was a free ride, without loss of wages, for tens of 
thousands; a new trick of the man with the "bar'l." 

Every office has its price. 

So from the highest to the lowest there is the steady and un- 
called-for use and misuse of money in connection with candidacies 
for every public office. In consequence of this the Congress of 
the United States has been transformed. There are districts, and 
many of them, in which no man would think of becoming a can- 
didate, with hope of election, without the expenditure of an amount 
fully equal to the salary of his entire term. Legislative contests 
frequently cost candidates vastly more than they earn legitimately 
in the public service. A seat in the United States Senate is no 
longer within the reach of any man, no matter how able and wor- 
thy, who is either not possessed of great wealth, or the willing 
creature of great moneyed interests. Every kind of municipal 
and county office is ranged along the speculative line. The first 
thing a candidate must do, under the present system, is to sub- 
sidize his preliminary workers, and these increase in number and 
expensiveness as he travels along the political highway. Com- 
mittees strike him at every turn and unless he submits to the de- 
mands upon him he is ruled out or turned down. There are from 
time to time many loose statements made as to sums of money 
raised for special purposes, and frequently the imagination is given 



5 2 

full sway in this particular; but the actual facts would often make 
a revelation simply appalling. 

The pretence that any considerable portion of the money now 
used in political campaigns is for legitimate purposes, is a mock- 
ery of the truth. A large proportion of it is simply for purposes of 
debauchery outright; not always the direct purchase of votes, but 
the payment of conscienceless hirelings, who bring support to the 
candidate in all kinds of crooked ways. An adherence to honest 
principles would eliminate the political "heeler" and Hessian, 
would leave the people free to exercise their choice, without un- 
pleasant personal dragooning, and without having their honest 
votes killed by the tainted ballots of the groundlings, who are 
getting entirely too numerous for the welfare of the country. The 
"floater," both white and black, is a most pernicious factor in 
American politics to-day, and "Slippery Billyus" and his kind will 
never disappear until candidates cease causing him to multiply by 
bidding against one another in the matter of campaign expendi- 
tures. Jeems Leathery has many times entertained his confiden- 
tial friends telling how he has "plucked a fat goose." There is 
nothing he enjoys more keenly than getting a lot of money out of 
rich rivals for empty and fleeting political honors. 

A chapter of unwritten history. 

The details freely given by those who are responsible for this 
condition of affairs are most suggestive. A rich and pretentious 
candidate for the United States Senate vehemently declared him- 
self opposed to every sort o.f bribery. Why, certainly; what else 
could be expected of him, with his high reputation and virtuous 
ways? And yet see the charming disengenousness of his manager 
— money for "legitimate expenses only." The latter volubly ex- 
plained that when candidates for the Legislature came to him, his 

formula was: "Are you for Mr. ? If you are, we will help 

you. But if you are not for him, then we won't give you a cent." 
Ah, how quickly the itching palm would be outstretched! Jerry 

Bumpkin would say, in astonishment: "For Mr. ? Why, 

I never was for anyone else. Of course not." And he was sent 
away happy — with his "virtue" carefully wrapped up in a napkin, 
that men might not see it. "Next!" In this way several good- 
sized "bar'ls" were emptied. 

When the Legislature met the other candidate for the Senatorial 



53 

vacancy stepped forward, and through the methods frequently 
used in such cases, secured all the votes he needed, without dis- 
count and without ceremony. His disappointed rival was amazed 
and indignant. "Why!" he said, "I had their written pledges, a 
majority of the joint Assembly. Think of it!" So he had — to 
begin with, and the other candidate had the majority, at the end 

of the race. So ended that chapter. Mr. told his friends 

that if he had only turned his back and seen nothing, and said 
nothing, his other "friends" would have seen him through. "But," 
he added, impressively, "I told them I might come home bare- 
headed and bare-footed, but I must come with clean hands." How 
strangely blind are those who will not see. The free use of money 
by a candidate for the United States Senate before a legislative 
election is reprehensible, as well as it is after the members are 
chosen and when they are about to enter the caucus for the pur- 
pose of selecting a party candidate. It is only a difference of de- 
gree. In either case a grave offense is committed against true 
national principles. What is justly demanded by the American 
people is the banishment of the "bar'l," the most debasing and 
dangerous factor in the political arena to-day. 




54 




VII. 

"The same mighty power which controls and directs leg- 
islative and executive authority has an equally firm 
grasp upon the judiciary. ,, 

AS a rule the American people have always shown 
the very highest respect for the judiciary. The 
members of the bench are not regarded as being 
hedged about with divinity, like a king, but when 
they are true to their high obligations there is the 
utmost deference paid to them. The unit of power 
in a republic is the individual citizen and in the 
establishment of courts of justice this fundamental 
idea has been steadily maintained. One man on 
the bench and twelve men in the box form the 
simple yet august tribunal before which causes are 
tried. It is here the issues of life and death, the 
rights of person and property, the authority of the 
state, the dignity of government, the protection 
of society are calmly considered. It is seldom that the dignity of 
the court is rudely intruded upon or disturbed. 

The administration of justice is a sacred calling, and those im- 
partially engaged therein should be intelligently and loyally sup- 
ported by all classes of the people. The honor and dignity of the 
bench should be zealously guarded. The judicial system is one of 
the bulwarks of American liberty, and it cannot be trespassed upon 
or belittled in the public mind without opening the way to national 
degradation and ruin. All this is self-evident. Why is it, there- 
fore, that in some parts of this country the people seem to be fast 
losing faith in the integrity and justice of the courts? Why should 
there be such general and severe criticism of the work of the 
bench? Why do men everywhere — and this significant expression 
is not confined to irresponsible agitators and embittered enemies 
of society — repeat the charge that there is one kind of justice for 
one class of defendants and litigants and another for a different 
class? This every-day indictment cannot be answered merely by 
denouncing it as untrue. The record in many places fully sus- 
tains it. 



55 
Upon which side is the court? 

It has become an axiom amongst thoughtful observers that in a 
contest in the courts over civil rights between the weak and the 
strong the former nearly always go to the wall, unless, perchance, 
the case is so clear, the evidence so overwhelming, that there is no 
opportunity for using legal technicalities, whereby the jury may 
be confused, or the court enlisted in the scheme to defeat the ends 
of justice. And it has come to pass that no ordinary claimant 
for damages for wrongs inflicted to himself or others near to him 
can hope for a final adjudication in his case until he has fought his 
conscienceless and determined enemy all the way through the 
judicial labyrinths, to the court of last resort. Almost every ver- 
dict against a corporation, or a rich defendant, is appealed from 
and to meet this issue always means heavy expense, frequently 
beyond the means of the plaintiff, who is thus doubly wronged, 
without relief. The first step is to demand a new trial, during the 
argument the defendant frequently having the open sympathy 
and unfair assistance of the court. 

Many flagrant instances of this kind are within the knowledge 
of every observant member of the bar, in our large cities partic- 
ularly, where there is a concentration of the influences which are 
so hostile to the administration of even-handed justice. The pur- 
pose is to wear out, or break down, the helpless claimant, who is 
often without a dollar to pay his or her way, and thus exposed to 
the mercenary demands of Shylock attorneys, many of whom pile 
up big fortunes within a few years by means of outrageous con- 
tingent fees. And when the higher court is reached, the almost 
uniform tendency is to strain the law in favor of the resisting cor- 
poration. Every point which can be used in this way is quickly 
seized upon, the evident purpose being to discourage the unlet- 
tered and poverty-stricken masses from appealing to the courts for 
justice. 

Upon one occasion a poor newsboy, after a hard fight, won a 
verdict of $8,000 for the loss of a leg. The trial judge had ruled 
against him all he dared, and charged against him to the limit of 
his privilege, and he was plainly indignant at the refusal of the jun- 
to be guided by his prejudiced advice. In the argument for a 
new trial, he treated counsel for the plaintiff with the utmost 
brusqueness and badgered the presiding judge, who was listless 



56 

and indifferent. Growing earnest in devotion to his client, the 
lawyer who, as he well said, had the laboring- oar, defiantly de- 
clared: "May it please the court, I won this case on the plainest 
evidence, and if you send it to another jury, I will win it again," 
and he did, without thanks to the man who was fighting him so 
indecently from the bench. In another case, the judge called 
counsel for the defense to side bar and advised them, before he 
submitted the matter to the jury, to make a settlement with the 
other side, warning his special friends that they would get a blow, 
if they did not, as there was nothing for the twelve arbitrators to 
do but make a liberal award for damages, as claimed, for com- 
plete physical wreck. The suggestion was declined, and the ver- 
dict was given as indicated. 

A typical cormorant of the period. 

How often this sort of thing occurs in the civil courts to-day. 
It is undeniable that there is a systematic effort to protect power- 
ful and wealthy defendants, this being the result of iwo things — 
first, the subsidizing of the ablest and shrewdest members of the 
bar, and the control over the creation and maintenance of the 
judiciary by the ruling classes. The ambitious lawyer plainly 
sees the hand-writing on the wall and governs himself accord- 
ingly. He seeks to attract the attention of rich and influential 
clients, and once in their employ serves them with zeal, un- 
scrupulousness and oftentimes absolute heartlessness. He rides 
rough shod over everyone who comes in his way, bullies wit- 
nesses and uses all the arts of the professional trickster and knave 
in carrying his points and serving the interests of his employers.. 
He will go the verge of dishonor in procuring evidence. He will 
distort facts and suppress the truth. His one object is success, 
steadily pursued, regardless of the triumph of justice, or the rights 
of others. 

The American lawyer of the type of Oliver Slick is one of 
the products of the time, whose influence for evil cannot be esti- 
mated. He is an ever present obstacle to the restoration of har- 
monious relations between capital and labor. He is the incar- 
nation of mercenary hostility to the working classes. His genius 
ir the construction of statutes intended to promote the interests of 
the few against those of the many, is Machiavellian. He is the 
embodiment of selfishness, the outgrowth of industrial, commer- 



57 

cial and political conditions which fill the land with grievous suf- 
fering and perilous unrest. His alleged services are made the 
convenient cover for all sorts of crooked work in the manipula- 
tion of legislative bodies. "Oliver Slick, Esq., legal expenses," 
frequently means large sums expended in dark ways, the uncover- 
ing of which would bring lasting disgrace upon all concerned 
and often would make big work for grand juries and criminal 
courts. Unless the power for evil thus exercised is broken, 
courts in America, within the next twenty-five years, will become 
a byword and reproach, a cruel mockery of justice. All crows are 
not black A white one — perhaps whitewashed — is occasionally 
seen, once in a century or so. So it may be with Slick et al., 
lawyers for revenue. They may not all be black crows. Counsel 
for the defense are at liberty to submit to the jury any evidence 
they may possess on this point, accompanied by proper affidavits; 
it being understood that the statutes against perjury are not 
barred. 

Justice squints — Burglars on the inside. 

In the criminal courts who will deny that a worse state of things 
exists? Justice sits with one eye thinly veiled, discriminating 
between the "man with a pull" — whether he is a presidential bank 
wrecker, who has "borrowed" millions, and been so "unfortunate" 
as to get caught on the wrong side of the market, or a type of low 
down political worker, like "Bucky" Heeler — and the ordinary 
malefactor who has committed some crime against society. "The 
man with a pull" works it for all it is worth. He can have the 
services of the ablest lawyers. He can fight off prosecution till 
the last moment. He can spirit away witnesses with impunity. 
He can play the physical disability dodge with repeated success. 
His alarming attacks of "nervous prostration" excite the mani- 
fest sympathy of the court. He can readily have the co-opera- 
tion of the jury fixer. He can command the testimonials of dis- 
tinguished citizens as to previous good character. The average 
defaulter is an angel of light — until found out. He is always 
the man who is "implicitly trusted," and that is what leads him 
to ruin. When the adversary wants to throw down a really good 
man, in a position of great trust, he gets all of his friends to turn 
their backs and give him a chance to wrestle alone with tempta- 
tion. There is abiding faith amongst stock-holders and depos- 



5» 

itors in patent locks, combination safes, electrical guards, steel 
chests, granite walls, etc., these days, but this plan is generally 
inefficient in making men honest. While there are so many 
chances of escape in the courts the risk is taken, as it would not 
otherwise be. 

A bank official was proudly showing an editorial friend the in- 
stitution's imposing looking "safe deposit vaults." It was the 
first time the visitor was ever behind iron bars, and he was greatly 
impressed. He remarked: "Surely this treasure house is burglar 
proof." "Ah!" was the quick reply, "the trouble in our time is — 
the burglars are on the inside!" Strange prophecy! That in- 
stitution is to-day a hopeless wreck and many hapless depositors 
are in mourning over betrayed confidence. The burglar was on 
the inside, sure enough. He sat in an officer's chair, and took 
all there was within reach. He did not "steal" it. Of course not! 
He only "borrowed" — hundreds of thousands of dollars, without 
leave and in defiance of the law. If one of the clerks had tapped 
the till in the same way he would have been railroaded to the 
penitentiary for fifteen or twenty years. This is only one modern 
instance. 

Truth in bonds — Legal banditti. 

What is the duty of a lawyer? To serve his client honestly all 
the time and as efficiently as he can, with absolute fidelity to the 
letter and spirit of the law. An eminent Philadelphia practitioner 
defended a man who stole a watch, and got him off. A little 
later the grateful thief handed his successful attorney the booty 
as his fee. The implied reflection upon "professional honor" was 
a fine piece of retributive justice. "It must require severe study 
to handle your practice successfully," said a friend to a member 
of the bar, in full swing as a contingent fee collector of damages. 
"What I have to do, is to study what scientific questions not to 
ask," was the cunning reply. No fine spun theories there as to 
the duty of an officer of the court, above all things, to bring out all 
the facts, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, 
and to secure the administration of simple justice. That old 
fashioned idea is what a notorious "statesman out of a Job" would 
ironically term "an irridescent dream." 

If there* is anything needed in connection with the practice of 
law in this country to-day, it is a wholesome and permanent re- 



59 

viva! of the high principles, without the manifestation of which 
and their steadfast maintenance no man, in former times, could 
hope to command the respect and confidence of the court, the 
jurv and the people. The possession of superior talents for pro- 
fessional work involves great responsibility to the community. 
Every such public leader, no matter what his sphere of activity,- 
should set a high example of sincerity, integrity and patriotic re- 
gard for the public welfare. But when men of this favored class 
unite their tremendous forces to promote schemes of private and 
public plunder; when they exhaust their knowledge of law and 
their ingenuity in interpreting statutes and in quoting judicial 
decisions and precedents, not for the purpose of securing equal 
and exact justice between man and man, but to accomplish selfish 
aims, inimical to the public welfare, they become public enemies, 
infinitely worse and more dangerous than common outlaws, whose 
hands are against everyone and against whom all other men are 
united for self-protection. The bar of America owes it to itself 
to think of these things and to clear its skirts of all complicity 
with the wrongful doings of professional vampires. 

They think it is a good place to keep out of. 

And what of the twelve men to whom are committed the issues 
of life and death, the protection of the rights of person and prop- 
erty, the decision of questions which go to the very root of the 
social fabric? Is it not true that juries, instead of advancing in 
average intelligence, dignity and ability, in keeping with the prog- 
ress of the nation, are notably retrograding, and that the profes- 
sional juryman has become one of the discreditable features of the 
times, to be found hanging around every court-room? Citizens 
of superior intelligence and high character avoid jury duty as 
they do a pestilence. They will do anything to escape the per- 
formance of such work, and judges are prone to be too considerate 
in this matter, yielding to personal influence, which should have 
no place under such circumstances. The result of it all is that 
now and then a just judge is compelled to enter a ringing protest, 
one which refers to some specific case, but has a general appli- 
cation. 

There have been so many melancholy failures of justice of late 
years, that in a recent case, which resulted in a verdict of acquittal, 
directly contrary to the facts and in violent disregard of law, the 



6o 

presiding judge wrathfully broke out with a denunciation of the 
delinquent jurors, declaring with truthfulness and force, that the 
greatest encouragement was thus given to the commission of 
crime. It is time for a thorough facing about. The courts are 
the bulwarks of American institutions. If they become corrupt,, 
negligent, indifferent, or incompetent, national wreck will surely 
follow. Society is vitally interested in this matter. It is some- 
thing which is touching all classes. The rights of every citizen 
are at stake. The sword of Justice must not be broken. 

Keepers of the Temple of Justice. 

What is meant by the previous observation concerning the con- 
trol over the creation and maintenance of the judiciary exercised 
by the ruling classes? Simply this: The avenues to judicial pre- 
ferment are as effectually barred against any one who has not 
given satisfactory evidence that he is "straight" on the rising 
issue of millions against millions as though a wall of fire separated 
him from the object of his professional ambition. Let any young 
lawyer, even the most brilliant in his locality, in town or country, 
who doubts this fact try to climb up or break in some other way 
than that ordained by the ever vigilant guardians of great monied 
interests. Let him openly proclaim himself in uncompromising 
hostility to corporate aggression, political chicanery, personal 
tyranny, and everything that is arrayed against the interests of the 
defenseless masses. Let him defiantly refuse to bend his neck to 
the iron yoke of serfdom to the machine. Let him stand out 
bravely for a return to the principles of equality, which prevailed 
before men were required to take an oath of allegiance to corrupt 
and despotic masters. Let him firmly demand that a halt shall 
be called upon every un-American species of trust and selfish 
combination in restraint of trade. Let him declare for the in- 
alienable rights of labor as against the aggressive warfare of deal- 
ers in flesh and blood, who grind out the lives of their victims 
under the ever present threat that there are more workers and 
would-be workers than there are places to be filled. 

Let this defender of popular rights aspire to the bench, simply 
to administer even-handed justice, owing no man anything but 
good will. He will speedily find himself set down in the odious 
and cruel black-list, as one who is not "safe;" as one who might 
"make trouble;" as one who "cannot be trusted" to hold the scales 



6i 

of justice as their makers now intend them to be held — for the 
protection and promotion of their interests, which they regard as 
paramount to those of all others, especially the restive, anxious, 
impatient, threatening multitude. The same mighty power 
which controls and directs legislative and executive authority in 
tj lis land in the evening of the nineteenth century has an equally 
f»rm grasp upon the judiciary. Its mailed hand holds the throttle 
■of the machinery of government at every vital point, and it means 
to hold it — whether the people will or no. 





62 



VIII. 

"The existence of great trusts, having butone'selfish and un= 
lawful object, is a reflection upon the honor of the coun- 
try, a menace to the prosperity and happiness of the 
people." 

THE people of the United States 
have had a most unhappy ex- 
perience with the gigantic trusts 
of the time. Every demand for re- 
lief, based upon the highest prin- 
ciples of justice and fundamen- 
tal American ideas, has been treated with contempt. Monopo- 
lies of one kind and another, but all alike in their common pur- 
pose, have steadfastly proceeded to plunder their helpless victims. 
Here and there some attempt has been made to deal with this most 
important matter by state legislatures, with indifferent success. 
The national government gave promise of doing something ef- 
fective, through the now notorious anti-trust law of 1890. This 
enactment, it was confidently declared, would put an end to pub- 
lic robbery, to unlawful combinations in restraint of trade, and 
would prevent the carrying out of schemes of unjust profit on the 
part of trusts of any sort. 

The sugar combination made a bold stand, however, and the 
whole country painfully witnessed the utter inefficiency of this- 
law; and a little later the national Senate was scandalized by un- 
precedented developments showing the masterful presence of the 
slimy hand of corruption. It is not generally known that several 
of the strongest members of that body narrowly escaped complete 
ruin. One of these was for a time driven from his place, almost 
a physical wreck, through fear of exposure. Only the mistaken 
generosity of his associates covered his sins and saved him from 
political annihilation. The story of the sugar trust's evil influ- 
ence in the highest legislative body of the nation is a deep and 
lasting reflection upon the whole country. 

The manner in which the people's hopes were blasted, in con- 
nection with the course pursued by those whose duty it was to- 



63 

enforce, in letter and spirit, the national law against trusts, also 
added to the injury inflicted. In one instance a federal judge, 
before whom a preliminary case was heard, went out of his way 
practically to aigue in behalf of the trust; to try to make it ap- 
pear that this most odious of monopolies — which plunders the 
people at the rate of $20,000,000 a year — was not subject to the 
law of Congress, inasmuch as it was only a local manufacturing 
concern, it being strangely maintained that there was no satis- 
factory evidence to show that it was unlawfully engaged in inter- 
state commerce. An Attorney-General of the United States in- 
structed his subordinates to forward these cases through the lower 
courts as rapidly as possible, in order that the highest tribunal 
might conclude the matter, it being openly suggested that the law 
would certainly be declared unconstitutional, in accordance with 
the decision of another occupant of the federal bench, who mean- 
while had been elevated to the Supreme Court. So it has been all 
the way through. The general government has done nothing to 
fulfill reasonable and just public expectation and demand. 

An un-American and ruinous system. 

It is this sort of manifest sympathy with the aims and purposes 
of these great financial combinations, on the part of executive ofrn 
cers and members of the judiciary, which excites the gravest sus- 
picion and the just indignation of the American people. There 
seems to exist a comprehensive and determined conspiracy to 
over-turn national customs in trade and commerce; to crush out 
individualism and all competition; to run down and ruin small 
manufacturers and dealers everywhere. Whether it is a union 
of gigantic forces, backed by unlimited capital, in some branch 
of manufacture, controlling some article of daily necessity to the 
whole population; in making a speculative "corner" in bread- 
stuffs ; in seizing millions of acres of the public domain ; in buying 
up coal lands and raising the price of fuel; in grasping valuable 
municipal franchises, through a corrupt alliance with derelict pub- 
lic servants; in combining rival corporations engaged in semi- 
public business, such as the furnishing of light, heat, etc., such 
a system is un-American, hateful and ruinous, and the time is 
rapidly approaching when there will be a public revolt that will 
be effective though it may convulse the nation. The develop- 
ment of the trust idea in this country has been almost beyond 



6 4 

belief. The profits already realized, in various ways, largely 
through rascally speculation in the manipulation of worthless 
stocks and bonds, have exceeded the legitimate returns of com- 
merce and manufactures by hundreds of millions of dollars. The 
whole business is based upon a deliberate purpose to extort un- 
just gain from the people, and this after they have loyally sus- 
tained, for a full generation, the economic policy thus selfishly per- 
verted. American voters have upheld the banner of protection 
to American industry, only to find themselves at the mercy of 
men as soulless as the wooden idols of Hindustan. They have 
toiled these many years, dragging forward the mighty indus- 
trial jauggernaut, before which they are now falling exhausted, 
while it moves on, crushing out honorable aspiration, lingering 
hope and even life itself. 

It makes starvation and desperation. 

The trust seeks, first, to restrain production. This throws out 
of employment many thousands and causes suffering far and 
wide. It breaks up humble homes, makes tramps, paupers, or- 
phans and criminals. But the trust promoter and manager is as 
heartless as the rock in the bottom of the sea. It next depresses 
the value and selling price of raw material. This again robs 
labor, in the fields and mines, ruins farmers and operators, and 
spreads desolation. But the trust has neither sense of justice, 
honor nor pity. It reduces the number of workers and cuts 
down the wages of those permitted to remain, under iron clad 
restrictions and regulations which stamp out manhood and 
make its victims little better than common serfs. This sort of 
"economy" makes starvation and desperation. It adds to the 
burdens of the charitable and breeds bitterness and rebellion 
against society and government. But the trust cares nothing 
for the trials of flesh and blood, the wrongs inflicted by its meth- 
ods. It next raises the price of its limited finished product, and 
dictates those who shall sell its wares. This filches more millions 
from the pockets of helpless consumers, while it bankrupts mer- 
chants and brings misery to many who never knew want. But 
the trust revels in its wicked gains and gives the screws a fresh 
turn for another year's work. It defies all restraint and mocks 
the righteous protests of honest tradesmen. 



65 

How the people are plundered. 

Under existing conditions the American people are paying, 
over and above a fair rate of profit on capital actually invested, 
unjust tribute amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars every 
year through the operations of the trust system. And through 
loss of. employment, decreased wages and enforced reduction in 
the price of raw material they produce, they are losing many 
millions more. One great steel making concern at one time, 
with $10,000,000 capital, had on hand upwards of $10,000,000 in 
undivided profits, over the distribution of which there was a great 
wrangle in the Board of Directors. Men of honest instincts and 
training, who aforetime would have despised themselves for 
weakly surrendering to this destroying influence, are swept along 
in the current of combination conspiracy against the people and 
none are safe. Every branch of industry is in turn assailed. There 
are to-day about one hundred and twenty trusts in active opera- 
tion, with a combined nominal capital of over three thousand mil- 
lions of dollars, a sum in excess of the entire amount of the na- 
tional debt at the close of the civil war, and the number is being 
constantly added to. 

In the presence of this all-devouring commercial and financial 
American King Stork the executive arm of the law is paralyzed, 
courts shamefacedly acknowledge their impotency, Congress is 
controlled, legislatures sell out bodily. Individual manufacturers 
and traders are swallowed alive. In mercantile life there is no 
survival of the fittest, but an abnormal and ruinous growth of 
combination absoluteism. Profits high up in the millions, rang- 
ing from twenty to forty per cent, are taken by men whose am- 
bition is without limit, whose resources are constantly swelling, 
whose income runs from $500,000 to $9,000,000 a year, whose 
daily triumphs mean the crushing out of every vestige of competi- 
tion, of every opportunity to make an honest livelihood on the part 
of moderate dealers. The trust kings, like Monte Cristo, bestride 
the earth and the sea and defiantly declare that the world is theirs 
and all that therein is. 

The time has come when this great question must be dealt with 
more efficiently by legislative bodies in g'eneral, state and national, 
and by those charged with the administration of the law. Infinite 
harm has been done the cause of republican government through 



66 

the defiance of trusts. A vicious example has been set which the 
lawless classes in general will not be slow to imitate. It must 
not be recorded that there is no relief for the people from combi- 
nations of a few men possessing unlimited financial power, while 
petty offenders against the laws alone are raided and punished ac- 
cording to the measure of their crimes. It is the duty of the gov- 
ernment to protect itself and the people against all forms of in- 
justice, wrong and oppression. There is abroad in the land an 
ugly and ominous spirit of revolt against the existing order of 
things in society and the state. The mutterings and threatenings 
of the anarchist are heard on every hand. During the past ten 
years the country has had some startling lessons, warning it of 
the existence of this deadly peril to American institutions. It is 
the rebellious spirit which is to-day the subject of grave anxiety 
in every thoughtful mind. 

Defiance of law and justice. 

What is the use of great railway combinations demanding the 
enforcement of the law for the protection of person and property,, 
to whatever amount of bloodshed even may be necessary, the call- 
ing out of all the forces of the commonwealth against rioters and 
armed rebellion, while men who control vast interests can snap 
their fingers in the face of courts and the people, trample upon the 
rights of millions, and carry out their schemes of personal ag- 
grandizement, regardless alike of the interests of the public, the 
welfare of society, the safety and perpetuity of republican govern- 
ment? If the law is not to be respected and obeyed in its integ- 
rity by those who, through their superior intelligence and great 
influence, are largely responsible for its creation, how long will it 
be possible to maintain respect for it, obedience to its mandates, 
peace and safety, against the desperate anarchistic spirit which 
already warns the country of a danger of the gravest kind? 

It has come to this, that when a hundred men join in a strike 
which runs into lawlessness, the commission of crime, the shed- 
ding of blood, the power of the commonwealth must be speedily 
and effectively exerted for the maintenance of the public peace 
and public safety. But ten men can get around a big table, re- 
solve to create a monopoly in some article of popular consump- 
tion, of absolute public necessity, and when courts declare the 
papers which they have signed illegal, they tear them up and 



6 7 



make others, which avoid the letter of the law, while being equally 
defiant of its spirit, and go right on, insolently inquiring of their 
millions of victims, "What do you propose to do about it?" These 
are sober truths, and they are being pondered to-day by thought- 
ful men as never before. It is passing strange that their force is 
not recognized by those most interested. The monopolist of to- 
day may sow to the wind; his successors will reap the whirlwind. 
This great question will be solved, if the solution only comes 
in a manner from which all patriotic men cannot but shrink. The 
Republic can only live through respect for the law, devotion to 
its spirit, and recognition, above all things, of the rights of the 
people. The anarchistic spirit is as reprehensible, as foreign to 
every patriotic instinct, as hostile to every genuine American idea, 
as perilous to every cherished American institution, when exhib- 
ited by overgrown and conscienceless corporate power, as when 
shown in the blatant mouthings of the declared enemies of society 
and the state, or as manifested in the open rebellion of the bomb 
thrower and the torch fiend. Let us call things by their right 
names. Let us look at facts as they exist. Let every one, in high 
place or low, be held to a strict accountability before the law and 
in the higher court of public opinion. The existence of great 
trusts, having but one selfish and unlawful object, is in itself a 
reflection upon the honor of the country, a standing menace to the 
prosperity and happiness of the people. Such combinations must 
be brought under control, must be compelled to respect the law 
and the principles which govern the individual citizen. This is a 
duty which cannot be ignored without peril to the Republic itself. 







68 



IX. 




"The liquor traffic is the mighty giant of destruction that 
is doing more harm to humanity than all other evil 
influences combined. When will American manhood 
grapple with this cruel monster?" 

THERE is no greater power in the social, 
political and commercial life of this coun- 
try to-day than the influence exercised 
by the liquor traffic and its allied inter- 
ests. During- half a century there has 
been going on, with varying stages of ac- 
tivity and effect, a battle between the 
friends of sobriety, purity and virtue and 
those who selfishly seek to thrive upon 
the weakness, the vanity and the way- 
wardness of humanity. It has time and again been pointed out, 
with clearness and sincere devotion to the truth, that if there was 
consistency, courage and fidelity on the part of those who profess 
to be and call themselves Christians, in union with the other moral 
forces of the nation, the parasitical enemies of society, who so 
largely live upon youth and unprotected womanhood, would be 
driven into the darker places of open vice and in great measure 
deprived of their destructive strength. 

But there never has been any such a union of forces. On the 
contrary, there is the widest and most disastrous division of coun- 
sel and effort. The enemy rallies in might and pushes forward, 
sweeping away vast numbers of the most promising young men 
and young women, and citizens of mature years, who fall into 
the ways of the tempter and seem to be unable to resist his pow- 
ers of fascination, to escape the countless methods by which 
their undoing is steadfastly sought. Every movement distinctly 
along the lines of vigorous hostility to the drink habit has been 
fought with an unscrupulous daring that has almost paralyzed its 
devoted supporters. The latest and most successful effort of this 
kind is that comprised in the organization known as the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. Beginning with the heroic work 



69 

of a little band of noble minded wives and mothers, filled with 
loving anxiety for the welfare and happiness of those near and 
dear to them, this modern mission in the cause of social reform has 
extended far and wide and been productive of a vast amount of 
good. 

With branches in every state in the Union, chiefly composed of 
women exceptionally endowed for such beneficent work, the Un- 
ion has upheld the cause of the Home against the Saloon in the 
face of every discouragement. It has secured, after much effort, 
the enactment of beneficent legislation under which the rising 
generation is being largely educated as to the physiological ef- 
fects, the ever-present danger, of using alcoholic liquor as a bever- 
age. This is beginning in the right place. The seed thus wisely 
and carefully sown will bear good fruit in the years to come. 
The lessons taught will be the means of protecting a multitude of 
young men from the wiles of their worst enemy. The information 
imparted will add to the equipment for life needful to make the 
voyage with safety and happiness. 

Look to the foundations. 

It is to be noted, however, there have been sinister efforts to 
defeat the object of the friends of temperance. School directors 
have been tampered with and teachers influenced to neglect the 
duty incumbent upon them. Even the batteries of the press have 
at times been directed against this praiseworthy effort to enlighten 
and protect the boys of to-day, the men of to-morrow, and pub- 
lishers have been used to prevent the purpose of the law being 
carried out. But this branch of popular study should.be univer- 
sally adopted, in public and private schools. -Every good citizen 
should insist upon this and he should also see to it, both by exam- 
ple and precept, that his own children are taught the truth con- 
cerning this all-important question and trained in the ways of 
sobriety and usefulness. 

The church should be one united and aggressive temperance so- 
ciety. It has no such powerful and dangerous enemy as the sa- 
loon. Men cannot be taught righteousness if their brains are not 
kept clear and their hearts pure. The pioneer women in this 
crusade wisely and rightfully assumed the privilege of calling their 
long-needed organization a Christian Union. As such it should 
be heartily welcomed and sustained as the hand-maiden of the 



7° 

church. It should be fully utilized to advance the practical work 
of evangelization. It should command the most sincere and ef- 
fective co-operation of the ministry. The whole country has 
been inestimably benefited through the devoted work of the noble 
army of white ribboners. May their number multiply and may 
they grow in wisdom, earnestness, grace, enthusiasm and power. 
God bless the Woman's Christian Temperance Union ! 

The elements of selfishness and cowardice are largely responsi- 
ble for the injurious growth of the liquor traffic. Unquestionably 
the ruling classes are chiefly to blame. The average drinking 
man, who trains with exclusive social circles, curtly observes that 
he is not his brother's keeper; that he should not be deprived of 
a personal privilege in order to save some one else from the effects 
of weakness or foolishness. He refuses to acknowledge his duty 
to society in general and to other individuals and wholly forgets, 
with strange self-blindness, the suggestive fact that his own flesh 
and blood may suffer in consequence of his needless self-indul- 
gence. The rich wine drinker fills his vaults and sows the seeds 
in his own family — and Satan reaps the harvest. It is well known 
that in fashionable circles to-day total abstinence is extremely un- 
popular, even among women. Almost everybody drinks some- 
thing, and a great many, sooner or later, drink to excess. The 
outside world does not see what goes on behind the scenes in the 
gilded homes of those who are a law unto themselves with regard 
to all social customs. 

Demoralizing example of the «• smart set." 

This class seldom patronize the saloon, only upon occasion, or 
when away from home. They would instantly lose caste were they 
to be seen loafing around ordinary bar-rooms. Hence the omni- 
present side-board, the annex for "wet goods" in the smoking 
room, the drinking privileges of the club, the universal service at 
luncheon and dinner, at home and in the fashionable clubs and 
hotels. The thirst for liquor has become so intense that it is 
used more and more in the preparation of food. The latest fad — 
the chafing dish — is made the inseparable companion of the wine 
bottle. The hamper is taken to the fashionable out-door gather- 
ings, the races, football games, horse shows, coaching-club turn- 
outs, etc., patronized by the "smart set," and wine flows openly. 
Young women daintily touch glasses with callow youths who 



7i 

think they are making manly impressions, while they are simply 
upsetting their weak brains and knocking out their feeble moral 
underpinning. The elders calmly look on without disapproval, 
or join in the carnival, and all hands repair to their homes, to 
renew the dissipation, in more intensified form, at dinner and later 
in the ball room. 

Where reform is not wanted. 

Recently attention has been directed to the growing reckless- 
ness in the use of liquor — often the strongest drink — by college 
students. With what result? The reform "meddlers" have been 
sharply told to mind their own business. Rich and influential 
patrons, fast going alumni and subservient faculties, have prompt- 
ly united to severely frown upon such "impertinent and uncalled- 
for paternalism;" such rude interference with "personal rights;" 
such stupid display of unselfish interest in those who, in a little 
while, must become to a great extent the rulers of the land. One 
set of University officials took special pains to "snub" the kindly 
women who only asked that there should be decent regard for 
propriety; that young men should not be needlessly exposed to 
great temptation. At notable public functions will frequently be 
seen leaders in the work of higher education, so called — for it is 
fast becoming a sad misnomer — amongst the most ardent patrons 
of the wine course. 

At one alumni dinner, the distinguished head of a University 
was so far led astray by his surroundings and his evident desire 
to retain the confidence, esteem and profitable patronage of the 
ruling drinking element, that he uttered words of disparagement 
of earnest temperance reformers, discouraging their hard yet 
more than ever needful work, and giving encouragement to their 
scheming and rejoicing foes, that will do more harm, in a thou- 
sand ways, than the erring speaker can do good if he should live 
.and labor many years. This uncalled-for, cowardly and treacher- 
ous fling at the believers in total abstinence has been echoed in 
thousands of saloons and worse places, and will be used with 
terrible effect to increase the power of the advocates of the unre- 
strained sale and use of liquor, in the presence of and by the young. 
Such fearful blunders by men in high places, in church and state, 
must cause angels to weep, as they certainly cause demons to 
rejoice. 



7 2 

The saloon and its allies. Startling facts. 

In every town and city in the United States the saloon has a 
most effective ally in the social drinking club. It is here that 
habits are formed, one step at a time, which in countless cases 
lead rapidly down to earthly ruin and eternal darkness. It is 
here that young men, while yet in their teens, led on by older 
companions, acquire the taste first for beer, then wine, then the 
strongest drink. They smoke and drink and drink and smoke,, 
and the law, in its fatal blindness, says the club is not a saloon. 
The arch enemy of the happiness of mankind never invented a 
more effective plea for the extension of his terrible kingdom. 
High license has decreased the open saloon; it has immeasurably 
increased the number of unlicensed places where drink is sold, and 
in connection with the vast number of clubs which have sprung" 
up everywhere within the past ten years, has worked infinite harm 
in many communities. The evil wrought by these shut-in places 
of resort, the irresponsible club, is beyond belief. The very at- 
mosphere is poison to soul and body. Evil gossip, debasing: 
amusements, idleness, extravagance, wastefulness, intemperance, 
gambling, demoralizing interest in lawless and brutal exhibitions 
of physical strength, Sabbath desecration; these make up the vi- 
cious attractions that are furnished by the average young men's, 
club which is not specifically organized for some higher and more 
useful purpose. Even political associations are often thus per- 
verted, becoming the half-way house to resorts of the vilest char- 
acter; the place where the spirit of evil is unloosed and permitted 
to roam at will, to the destruction of many of the brightest and 
best young men in every community. 

Is it any wonder that the liquor traffic grows as nothing else? 
See! The consumption of alcoholic and malt liquor and wines- 
in the United States for the year 1880 was 506,000,000 gallons. 
For the year 1896 it was 1,122,000,000 gallons, an increase of over 
140 per cent., and 16 gallons for every man, woman and child. 
Is it any wonder that vice and crime, poverty and wretchedness 
increase so rapidly as to alarm all thoughtful observers? Over 
48,000 homicides in one year, a very large proportion the work 
of the rum fiend. The United States stands, after Germany and 
Great Britain, third in the production of beer, and it will soon be 
first. There are over 200,000 retail liquor dealers; 12,000 retailers 



73 

of malt only; 4600 wholesalers. The money waste is appalling. 
With due allowance for medical uses, this is fully $500,000,000 an- 
nually. The injury to society is irreparable. The burden of the 
state is crushing. No other industry thrives like this, in good 
times and bad, One seldom hears of a brewery failure, and the 
saloon keeper who fails is generally deficient in some other par- 
ticular. The retail liquor dealer revels in the gains of a traffic 
that is an ever present menace to life, liberty and happiness, and 
the welfare of the nation. The working-man should remember 
one thing, namely, he can never strike against any enemy half so 
injurious to himself as the saloon. When will men awake and see 
the peril? When will American manhood grapple with this cruel 
and hideous monster? When will the cries of millions of vic- 
tims call down the wrathful vengeance of heaven? Yet judgment 
will come, as sure as God reigns, for his prophetic servant has said: 
"Woe to them that call evil good; that put bitter for sweet and 
darkness for light." 

Its influence in politics. 

In politics the liquor traffic is a most powerful and pernicious 
factor. It has but one principle, the promotion of self-interest. 
Its immense forces line up all the time and everywhere to prevent 
possible effective legislation; to oppose every social movement 
for reform; to ridicule and to kill every effort to control public 
men in the interest even of effective restraint and regulation. 
No partisanship is known. Candidates are supported and elected 
solely with regard to their capacity to serve the saloon and its 
creators: the brewer and the distiller. From the 212,000 saloons 
and nearly 5000 wholesale dealers and manufacturers, a million 
dollars can be raised, on demand, to promote or defeat legisla- 
tion; to elect or defeat candidates for public office. Every state, 
every county, every city is organized. The press, to its infinite 
discredit be it said, is either indifferent or is kept in subjection in 
various ways, and political leaders almost with one accord cringe 
and fawn and surrender at will. 

At every state capitol, when the legislature is in session, there is 
a lobby, watchful, energetic and efficient. Slick and Sneak and 
Bumbkin and Brass join hands to serve their "friends." The peo- 
ple are betrayed and wronged. The machine, having been well 
subsidized, thoroughly greased, during the campaign, keeps its 



74 

contract and makes another alliance for future use. The traffic is 
heavily taxed, says some one. Every dollar it gives to the state 
it takes from the taxpayers, in their individual capacity, and it 
adds enormously to the cost of maintaining courts and public in- 
stitutions. As an economic factor, the liquor traffic is the most 
stupendous fraud ever conceived. It is the mighty giant of de- 
struction that is doing more harm to humanity than all other evil 
influences combined. 

The saloon, and often the club, is the school of impurity and 
vice, the headquarters for the dissemination of evil in a thousand 
ways. It has an ally, the extent of the operations of which, is un- 
known to a great many of our people, who are in deplorable ig- 
norance with relation thereto. The secret distribution of injurious 
literature has reached a stage which calls for a great popular 
awakening. A little while ago this sort of material, inspired in the 
infernal regions, could only be obtained surreptitiously, and scarce- 
ly at all by very young men. To-day it is brazenly on sale every- 
where, and within the reach even of the youngest members of the 
community, who can freely purchase, without the knowledge of 
their seniors or caretakers, when at home or at school, that which 
will blight the soul for time and eternity. 

Increasing peril to the young. 

More than that; the diabolical agents of the, evil one secure the 
names and addresses of tens of thousands of school children and 
youth and send them enticing circulars, without the knowledge of 
parents, teachers or guardians. And when some one engaged in 
this infamous business is tripped up by a zealous investigator, he 
is instantly denounced as a blackmailer! Thoughtless writers 
for the press join in this defensive crusade, thus shielding a work 
that is a blasting curse to the country. Let plain words be spoken, 
Let the people's eyes be opened. Let the skulking enemy be un- 
covered. Let him be driven out and his intended victims saved 
from his contaminating touch. Let the book-sellers of respecta- 
bility be made to understand that they are under a moral respon- 
sibility and that to place before their unsuspecting customers, as 
is so often done, cheap literature which does not come under the 
ban of the law, but which inevitably leads to the downward path, 
corrupts the minds and hearts of idle women and impressionable 
young people, is an offense not to be condoned. Eternal vigilance 



75 

only can save the American people from an overwhelming wave 
of iniquity from the printing press. 

One more word touching the younger members of the commu- 
nity. Fathers and mothers of America, where are your sons and 
■daughters at night? Where are they on Sunday? What kind of as- 
sociations surround them in the most perilous period of their lives ? 
What are they reading? Where, how and with whom do they 
spend their leisure hours? What influences surround them dur- 
ing their vacations and when away from home? Pray, think of 
these things before it is forever too late. Satan's recruiting sta- 
tions are open day and night, and his emissaries, often dis- 
guised as angels of light, are busy even while you sleep. He seeks 
your best beloved. He watches for his prey with stealthfulness 
.and ceaseless determination. He means to keep up his supply 
of victims, and as far as possible from the best homes, at any cost. 
Not a day or an hour passes, the year round, that he does not 
snatch some dear one from the hearthstone. And you then rail in 
vain. He mocks your sorrows, despises your shame, rejoices in 
your agony. Be more vigilant. Be more consistent. Be more 
courageous. Be more devoted. Time and opportunity now lost 
may never be recovered. Take your stand with the friends of 
temperance, purity and righteousness, and maintain it at all times 
.and under all circumstances. This is at once your high privilege 
and your bounden duty. 



7 6 



Self-respecting journalism should stand as the exemplar 
of obedience to lawful authority and the spirit of 
justice in all things and at all times." 




THE printing press in America has 
become, in a great measure, the 
most important factor in our na- 
tional life. Its development has 
been beyond all conception of early 
thinkers and writers. It is the dai- 
ly meat and drink of the million. It 
has the ear of the multitude at all 
times. It influences the lives and 
conduct of a vast number of those 
who do but little thinking on their 
own account and permit them- 
selves to be led along by subtle and stronger minds. It can build 
up and it can tear down. It can immensely advance the cause 
of public righteousness, private morality and good government, 
and it can block the wheels of genuine progress and prove a 
mighty stumbling-block in the pathway of the nation. This is 
not because the editor is all-powerful in his discussion of public 
affairs. On the contrary, allowing him full credit for all that he 
counts for, the people frequently show contempt for their self- 
appointed advisers. They read argument and appeal, to a limited 
extent, but are not always convinced. It has, indeed, become a 
stimulating habit with many independent, free-thinking citizens to 
patronize journals with which they seldom agree. They enjoy 
daily rounds with the editorial thunderer. Like the bellicose in- 
dividual who said that branch of the church suited him best which 
used the prayer-book, because he could" talk back" at the min- 
ister, they indulge their propensity for lively disputation by pick- 
ing the editor's fine work to pieces. This affords them exhilarat- 
ing mental exercise and considerable amusement, and sometimes 
entertains their friends, and not only does not hurt the feelings of 



77 

the public commentator, who knows nothing of it; it puts more 
shekels into his pocket — provided he is permitted to share the 
profit of the work of his busy brain. 

But the public mind is often seriously affected, quite uncon- 
sciously, by what is presented for its consideration in the news 
columns of the daily visitor to the home, the shop, the office and 
the counting-room. The reader may resent the set advice and 
partisan appeal in the editorial column, while he will easily be led 
by the statement of alleged facts, presented in a thousand other 
ways. Shrewd political leaders understand this public weakness 
and often turn it to very profitable account. It is also utilized, at 
times, in the same way by the promoters of business schemes. 
The average reader would have a fit of indignation if he knew 
how often he is taken advantage of through skillfully prepared 
special announcements, for the information of the public — at one 
dollar and upwards per line. There is nothing to distinguish 
this always more or less interesting material from the current 
local chronicle of the day. The pill is swallowed with charming 
innocence, and sometimes the effect is electrical. Dangerously 
contrary public sentiment, running strongly against some special 
project, is suddenly arrested and the current mysteriously set the 
other way. The few virtuous souls who refuse to be convinced 
against their wills, wring their hands, impotently denouncing the 
"cowardice and corruption of the press;" but these voices crying 
in the wilderness are not heard by the great mass of the people. 
The town meeting, the unfailing refuge of those who are on the 
losing side in such contests, affords a vent for the safe escape of 
this individual wrath and then all is forgotten. 

A question in business ethics. 

To what extent is this special dealing with the business office 
responsible for the subsequent course of the papers in question, 
editorially, and in their legitimate news columns? That is a ques- 
tion which every publisher must answer for himself. The fact re- 
mains that a new and singular source of newspaper revenue and 
public deception has been opened up and it is being most indus- 
tnously and successfully worked, in town and country. Perhaps 
the vein will be run out soon and some other method of creating 
and controlling public opinion will be invented. The point may 
be raised: Has the publisher, or publishing company, a moral 



78 

right to deliberately mislead newspaper readers, and also to take 
big money for doing so? Let the press wrestle with this problem 
in journalistic ethics. Let us hear from some of the learned doc- 
tors of the new and peculiar school of practical and very material 
philosophy upon this interesting subject. How would it do to 
open the doors to outside correspondents and allow the people 
themselves freely to express their plain opinion of the "gold brick" 
business as applied to the American journalism of these stirring 
times? 

"A newspaper is a machine to make money," was the expres- 
sive epitome of an eastern publisher of twenty-five years' suc- 
cessful experience. Just so. But is that all? Does this terse 
and most significant observation comprehend the whole duty of 
journalism? Is the newspaper, rightly viewed, merely and solely 
"a machine for making money"? Is its conductor and controlling 
spirit, often as autocratic, in a business sense, as the pettiest despot 
the world ever saw, under no sort of moral obligation to serve the 
public as well as himself? Is he under no legitimate responsibility 
to his readers and the community? To be sure, he is granted no 
exclusive franchise, save that which he in many instances en- 
forces, through association with others, in monopolizing news 
facilities. He is bound by no iron-clad regulations. He is, or can 
be, a law unto himself, being subject only to the statutes against 
mischievous falsehood intended to protect the citizen from injury 
in reputation or estate. Within this wide latitude, he can print 
wnat he pleases, and suppress what he pleases. He can advocate 
any public measure, or oppose the same He can support any 
candidate, or oppose him. He can seek business through private 
arrangement with public men and those having influence in con- 
nection with public affairs. 

Responsibilities of journalism. 

But with the doors of the people wide open to him; with free 
access daily to the inner domestic circle; with the unfettered oppor- 
tunity to reach and influence, for good or ill, youthful and impres- 
sionable minds and hearts for life; with the privilege of inquiring 
into the minutest details of personal and official delinquencies; 
with all the avenues of information open to him that are used by 
the servants of the law whose duty it is to run down and bring 
to punishment all sorts of offenders ; does not the exercise of this 



79 

immense privilege impose upon the publisher the weight of per- 
sonal responsibility? Is he morally free to spread the seeds of 
contagion and ruin broadcast, under the flimsy excuse that he is 
only keeping step with his eager contemporaries, printing the 
"news"? 

What is news? Is it necessarily, or in any proper sense, in a 
well-ordered and wisely protected community, the elaborate rec- 
ord of all that is evil? Is it needful to chronicle the wicked ways 
and vile doings of the worst people in the community, and dis- 
miss the countless good deeds of every hour with perfunctory 
formality and impatient brevity? Must the quiet evening hour 
in the family circle be polluted every day by the reading, almost 
without knowing it, of things, even a superficial knowledge oi 
which blackens the heart, blunts the moral senses, deadens the 
conscience and irreparably undermines and injures the whole 
moral structure? Must the day begin and end with this sort of a 
feast of evil; this kind of a dance of demons before the opening 
eyes of childhood, in the presence of the growing years of youth, 
the purity of womanhood, the ripening character of honorable 
manhood? The picture is not overdrawn. It is the vivid but 
truthful reflection of modern journalism in the United States; and 
those responsible therefor, whether they realize it or not, are 
piling up an account before an All-Seeing Eye, the weight of 
which it is beyond the mind of man to measure. 

A wrong to the public. 

The newspaper is a "machine to make money," all that can hon- 
estly and honorably be made, without harm to the public, or in- 
jury to any private interest. But certain customs have grown up 
which often reflect upon the honor, injure the standing and im- 
pair the usefulness of editors and publishers, and indirectly work 
great wrong to the public. This is particularly true with relation 
to so-called official advertising. As a matter of fact, there is no 
public necessity for this kind of publication, unless perhaps to a 
very limited extent. Nine-tenths of it is utterly useless and a 
discreditable waste of the public money, For instance, at the 
close of a vigorous and exciting campaign, which has attracted the 
attention of every voter, the sheriff gravely appears upon the scene, 
with a barn door advertisement in the papers, giving a lot of su- 
perfluous information about the election, what offices are to be 



8o 

filled, where the voting is to take place, etc. This publication 
costs the state many thousands of dollars, every penny of which 
is thrown away, through the maintenance of a practice long since 
out of date. 

It is the same with all sorts of legal and official notices, includ- 
ing the extensive display of sheriff's wares every month. Every 
one interested in these sales can readily obtain all the information 
desired, and each county could save large sums of money if a 
different system was pursued. Of course, the statutes provide 
for these advertisements, but the lawmakers in continuing this 
practice simply give the nolitical machine something to work 
with, through which to command the support of public journals. 
Otherwise the latter would not be subject to the temptation to 
surrender to odious masters and to cover the manifold sins of 
omission and commission of delinquent public servants. They 
WTmld be free to serve the people much more independently and 
effectively. This system of using public patronage as a political 
make-weight sometimes even paralyzes the sense of duty of the 
occupants of the bench. Under the pressure of political and per- 
sonal influence, wholly out of place under the circumstances, 
judges will order certain publications in papers of such limited 
circulation as to make a mockery of the law, in letter and spirit. 

Undoubtedly the general public has come to look upon such 
official advertising as to a great extent the direct cause of the 
timidity and lack of independence shown by many newspapers 
when great battles are on. No amount of protest or argument 
will persuade the people that an undue influence is not thus exer- 
cised. Have the publishers of this country ever considered this 
important matter in the right light? Have they ever figured up 
the gain and the loss? Is it not true that the papers which uni- 
formly reject this kind of compromising patronage, other things 
being equal, always stand exceptionally high in public respect 
and confidence? This is a manifestation at once of the people's 
disapproval of official favoritism, extravagance and waste, and 
hearty endorsement of the integrity, courage and worth of true 
journalism. Does it pay to appeal directly to the people? This 
question overwhelmingly answers itself in the career of more 
than one successful and influential American newspaper pub- 
lisher. 



An unhappy change. A fallen leader. 

A most suggestive and always to be regretted change of the 
time is the passing of the old-fashioned country newspaper. The 
people of the rural districts will make a grievous and costly mis- 
take if they do not rally to the rescue and hearty support of their 
home newspapers. The ubiquitous and all-pervading city daily 
now goes everywhere, but the field of usefulness so long and 
proudly occupied by the local press must ever remain, and it 
should never be abandoned, through lack of proper appreciation 
and substantial patronage. Throughout a most important period 
in the nation's history, these publications rendered a service to 
the country of inestimable value. They comprised the people's 
forum and main educator. They blazed the way for freedom's 
hosts in the mighty struggle for national preservation and the 
fulfillment of the long delayed promise of the immortal Declara- 
tion of the Revolutionary patriots. They set a high example of 
integrity and courageous patriotism and taught the rising gener- 
ation the lesson of loyalty to national principles. All honor to 
the country press. May it again be returned to its place of 
power in the political, industrial and social life of the American 
people. 

There is one page in the annals of American journalism darker 
than all the rest; this is that which records the cruel persecution, 
almost unto death, of one of its best, bravest, purest and ablest 
representatives. The events of that reckless time must ever be 
recalled with infinite regret. Political warfare is sometimes heart- 
less and terrible in its results. It should always be conducted with 
remembrance of the fact that there are personal rights which can- 
not be violated without deep dishonor. Men to-day unite in do- 
ing reverence to the memory of one who wrought with almost 
superhuman zeal and effect in the great battle for human rights 
and national redemption. But the broken heart cannot respond 
tc tokens of love and admiration. The weary head is forever at 
rest. The record of a courageous life of devotion to country and 
mankind is the rich heritage of the great Republic. 

One bleak, chilly November night, more than a quarter of a 
century ago, the heartless wires flashed across the land a message 
of only four words, but one that startled and saddened the nation. 
It was hard, indeed, to realize that the grand old veteran, the 
glorious hero of a thousand conflicts, had fallen at last. That the 



giant brain which for so many years had ceaselessly toiled, creat- 
ing the mental ground-work upon which millions of earnest men 
and women took their stand and battled bravely for the right, had 
finally ceased its labors. That the great heart which always went 
out in sympathy with the poor, the unfortunate and the oppressed, 
lay cold and still. That the hand which for thirty years had di- 
rected the mightiest pen in all the land, was powerless thenceforth 
for all time. That the greatest light in the firmament of American 
journalism had suddenly gone out. That one of America's great- 
est and noblest sons had given his last words of counsel to the 
people he loved so well, and to the elevation of whom his life was< 
so unselfishly devoted. 

It was hard to realize that he had left us at last and gone up- 
higher. But it was too true. The inevitable hour came and with 
it the messenger whose summons is always imperative. Happily,, 
the struggle was brief. "It is done!" Ah, yes, and how true! 
It was not for this departing spirit to grieve "over a wasted life." 
No! he went home laden with sheaves. He had been sent into this 
world to accomplish a great work. He was in truth a man of 
destiny. How well he fulfilled his mission all the world knows. 
And when the task was finished, the life work ended, He that sent 
him gently closed the volume. 

"So passed the strong, heroic soul away; 
And when they buried him," 

the great heart of the nation stood still. May the memory of Hor- 
ace Greeley ever burn brightly in the hearts and minds of the 
American people. 

"The Editor in Politics. " 

At the banquet given to Ex-Mayor Edwin S. Stuart, at the 
"Union League, Philadelphia, April 17, 1895, upon his retirement? 
from office, Edwin K. Hart responded to the toast "The Editor in 
Politics," as follows: 

The editor in politics may be and should be the right man in 
the right place. Politics in the editor may and often does turn out 
quite differently. The editor whose chief aim in life is to read his 
title clear — by the grace of some political master — to a mansion 
on Capitol Hill, has sadly mistaken his calling. Politics in our 
time is the science of government — by machine. The editor who 



83 

becomes the subservient creature of the machine forfeits the lead- 
ership which is his natural right. He has the ear of the public 
and in return he is under the very highest obligation. There is a 
reciprocal relationship which should never be lost sight of. All 
avenues of information are freely open to him, and it is his boun- 
den duty to utilize this privilege, honestly and courageously. In 
journalism a half truth is often worse than a whole falsehood. 
Lasting injustice, as well as self-inflicted personal humiliation,, 
may be the result of suppression as well as publication. The edi- 
tor who tells only what suits a selfish, partisan or personal pur- 
pose and conceals the rest, is unworthy of public trust and confi- 
dence. He recklessly sows to the wind and as surely reaps the 
whirlwind. The rule of the courts should be the invariable guide 
with the press; the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth. Instead, we sometimes see falsehood by implication, slan- 
der by suggestion, public deception through perversion and down- 
right misrepresentation. 

Organic and statutory law unite to invest the editor with a re- 
sponsibility which he cannot evade. Self-respecting journalism 
should ask no favors of men or government, no special immuni- 
ties. It should never appeal to the mercy of courts, nor fear to 
face an honest jury. It should stand as the exemplar of obedi- 
ence to lawful authority and the spirit of justice in all things and 
at all times. Unhappily, the ideal is not always reached. The 
force of temptation is felt in journalism as elsewhere. Yet, as 
observed, the inexorable law of compensation prevails. The edi- 
tor who runs with the political machine and is proud of it, is not 
always intoxicated with his own success. Looking upon the wine 
when it is red is as nothing in its demoralizing effects, with sitting 
up with the leaders and then — "getting left.'* The editor who 
to-day is a vociferous champion of reform and to-morrow is scut- 
tling the ship, is not apt to be canonized by the people who are 
betrayed. Fiercely denouncing the lawless classes, yet sustaining 
trusts and combinations which plunder the people, corrupt legis- 
latures and defy the courts is preparing the way for revolution. 
Sounding the praises of honest politics by clay, and playing "green 
goods" politics by night, will not bring everlasting honor. Shout- 
ing for civil service reform publicly, while seizing everything 
within sight, for friends and relatives, will not bring the political 
millennium. The alleged funny-man long since used up the moth- 



8 4 

er-in-law in journalism — peace to her troubled remains. But the 
voracious brother-in-law — like Nebuchadnezzar — would live for- 
ever. The editor who does not provide for his uncles, and his' 
cousins, and his maiden aunts, too, is not "in it" these days, ac- 
cording to the doctrine of the political scribes and pharisees. The 
editor with a "pull" is a mighty man, for a time, but when the 
straps suddenly break he is a sorry wreck. Journalism in some 
parts of this favored land is carrying a load big enough to break 
the back bone of the Rocky mountains. 

Let it be everywhere recognized that in no calling does char- 
acter count for more than in journalism; also that the absence of 
it is a fatal defect. Grapes can no more be gathered from thorns 
nor figs from thistles than they could two thousand years ago. 
The men who conduct the newspapers of America should be above 
suspicion and beyond the reach of the tempter. Their personal 
honor should be maintained at the highest standard. Their con- 
scientiousness should be commensurate with their tremendous 
responsibility. They should be the very salt of the earth. Their 
light cannot be hidden. They influence, through their work, 
more lives than any other class. The daily newspaper is the only 
mental food of vast masses of the people, increasing every hour. 
They read nothing else. They live upon it. They are controlled 
by it, for good or evil. They will move forward and upward 
toward the highest plane of national life, or they will sink to de- 
struction, as those who daily and hourly reach and influence them 
are true or false to their exalted mission, and realize or disregard 
their duty to themselves, to mankind, to good government, and 
to the Infinite Source of all wisdom and majesty and power and 
might. 




XL 




** There is nothing sadder in all history than the startling 
change which a few years have wrought in the farm- 
ing life of America. Let us cultivate more earnestly 
love of the old homestead." 

What is the matter with the American farmer? That he is 
seriously discontented with his lot and growing more restive all 
the time, is apparent to every observer. For two hundred years 
the tillers of the soil in the new world were the proudest kings of 
the earth. They laid the foundation of the mighty empire of the 
west. They cleared the trackless forests, broke up the wonderful 
prairies, peopled the wilderness and brought forth generation after 
generation of the hardiest, clearest-brained and purest-hearted 
people ever known. They pursued the even tenor of their way, 
undisturbed by the restless longings of other classes, especially 
those who hung about more populous centres of industrial activ- 
ity. They were compelled to get along with only the most limited 
means of education. They had no colleges, nor even high schools. 
Their sons and their daughters, however, were faithfully and effici- 
ently taught all that was needful, both from an educational and 
from a moral standpoint, to guide them safely, prosperously and 
happily through life. 

As the years went by the wave of immigration took possession 
of the domain beyond the Alleghenies, reaching to the foot of the 
Rockies. Throughout this vast region was built up the very heart 
of the Republic, and it throbbed with life and joyousness, with 



86 

intense loyalty to everything that stood for America and the bed- 
rock ideas of free government. The early pioneers experienced 
many hardships, but they were uncomplaining and their children 
were proud of the heritage bequeathed them. Up from the virgin 
soil sprang a race of strong men and pure women and homes mul- 
tiplied in which the spirit of peace and comfort was wont to abide. 
There is nothing more inspiring in all history than the wonderful 
-development of the farming industry in the American colonies 
and in the states of the Union. There is nothing sadder in all 
history than the strange and startling change which a compara- 
tively few troublous years have wrought. 

A mountain of debt and its cause. 

There is still on every hand many outward evidences of abound- 
ing prosperity. Wealth has been accumulated in the country as 
well as in the town and the city. An immense amount of money 
has been expended in material improvement, in the building of 
great barns and granaries, handsome residences and in bringing 
the surroundings up to the supposed demands of the time. Noth- 
ing is easier, however, than to go into debt, and the present gen- 
eration of American farmers have bitterly realized this economic 
fact. While in the full tide of prosperity, the tempter came and 
with glowing accounts of progress everywhere and brilliant proph- 
ecies as to the future, he readily persuaded his intended victims to 
launch out beyond their necessities, to lengthen their cords and 
strengthen their stakes, to expend large sums in useless elabora- 
tion and in ways that have since proven a crushing burden. The 
extravagant habits which developed amongst the wealthier classes 
of the people of this country as one of the results of the civil war 
extended to the plainer people of the rural regions and worked 
infinite mischief. The farmer who had been brought up in the 
old and healthful way suddenly conceived the idea, like the aver- 
age mechanic of to-day, in his zeal for the welfare of his offspring, 
that his children must have greater advantages than he was per- 
mitted to enjoy; that their happiness in the future chiefly depended 
upon the attainment of ceitain objects. The village school was 
left behind, the boys and girls, with fashionable wardrobes, sent 
off to the academy, the college and the seminary. 

When they returned it was with perverted minds, a thorough 
dislike of the quiet and frugal home life which they had before 



87 

lenown. Personal expenditures also must be kept up. Every 
young man whose father was a landed proprietor, to the extent of 
one hundred acres or more, must have his own fine horse and, 
handsome turnout. He must wear fine raiment and periodically 
visit his friends at a distance. He grew quite ashamed of his big 
red hands and sunbrowned face, and concluded that life would 
have no charms for him, unless he could change his surroundings 
and live in a different social atmosphere. It was rare that any 
.-such young man possessed the professional or mercantile instinct. 
But filled with high hopes and vain ambitions, he turned his back 
upon the home of his childhood, to become in a little while a weary 
drudge, wearing good clothes, but with no prospects of success 
in life. A vast number of such young men, within the past twen- 
ty-five years, have crowded into the already overburdened towns 
and cities of the United States, and many of them have fallen by 
the wayside, physical, social and moral wrecks. Meanwhile, their 
fathers have toiled on, trying to pay off the indebtedness incurred, 
but they have been engaged in a hopeless struggle. 

In a little while the sequel will be realized, and many sad- 
hearted hewers of w r ood and drawers of water, in the great mer- 
cantile establishments of the cities, will drop out of their places, 
to be succeeded by others, pushing on in the same dreary way, 
while thousands more of young men will continue, with blind in- 
fatuation, to leave the glorious freedom, the pure surroundings, 
the inspiring independence, the blessed domestic peace and happi- 
ness of country homes, to take their chances in the mad whirl of 
city life. In many agricultural sections scarcely any of the young 
men who would be most useful and most successful as farmers 
are to be seen after they reach their majority. During the busy 
season help is scarce, and much of it is most unsatisfactory. This 
unfortunate state of things is not confined to any one state, or any 
particular part of the country. New England, for so many years 
the centre of the farming industry, presents in some parts almost 
a desolate appearance. And throughout the middle states the 
average farmer sits by his fireside bemoaning his fate. There are, 
of course, very many worthy exceptions. The salt has not en- 
tirely lost its savor. And for this the country should be profound- 
ly thankful. 



A costly and lamentable mistake. 

Unless there is a change in the tide before many years shall roll 
around, and active rural life shall again become more attractive 
and profitable in every way, the consequences will be deplorable. 
Every branch of manual industry in the cities is overcrowded. 
There are always more workers than there are places, which keeps 
down wages and multiplies dependents, paupers and criminals. 
Involuntary idleness breeds manifold evils, -and helpless poverty 
leads to hopeless loss of self-respect and ends in countless cases in 
woful despair. A great need of the times is a return on the part 
of agriculturists of enthusiastic devotion to their calling, the 
brightening of their lives through closer relations with one an- 
other in pleasant circles, the object of which is intellectual enter- 
tainment and elevation and the advancement of the happiness of 
communities and individuals. The lyceum of forty years ago was 
the life of rural communities, but it has fallen into decay, and the 
stirring and virile country newspaper, the weekly visitation of 
which was an event looked forward to with so much pleasure,, 
seems to have lost its mission and in great measure merely exists,. 
in a formal way, with its patent insides and boiler-plate outsides, 
without purpose, without vigor and in strange forgetfulness of its 
high privilege and duty. Even the religious life of rural commu- 
nities has undergone a direful change. 

Another earnest word, the result of close observation for many 
years, with reference to the young people. Farmers of America, 
as you value their happiness here and their eternal welfare, keep- 
your boys and girls at home. Train them from their earliest 
years in the love of nature and all that is good and beautiful and 
true. Teach them the grand mysteries of creation. Bring them 
into close daily communion with the wondrous living kingdom 
around and about them. Let their own lives be interwoven with 
the very existence of birds and plants, flowers and trees, grains 
and fruits. Let them realize the joyous and strengthening com- 
panionship of the noblest members of the animal world. Put them 
under a sense of responsibility as co-workers with nature in her 
marvelous development of hidden forces. Open to them this 
greatest of all revelations to the unfolding mind of youth. In 
your own lives and by precept as well as example illustrate the 
nobility, the lofty independence, the inestimable privileges of your 
chosen calling. Rise above the drudgery of a laborious existence 



and live in an atmosphere of cheerfulness, gratitude and manly 
strength. 

Rally around the old homestead. 

Keep the boys and girls at home! They will be infinitely better 
off in the years to come. Think of the countless perils they must 
encounter in yonder great city. The most intelligent and experi- 
enced amongst you have not the remotest idea of the pit-falls in 
their pathway; the insidious ways, the covered traps, the wicked 
devices, the many schemes of the ever- present tempter. Remem- 
ber that the horrible dens of iniquity are daily and hourly re- 
cruited from amongst the fairest daughters and most promising 
sons of the farmers of the land. Did you ever think of this? 
And if those whom you love so dearly escape as by fire, as an al- 
most unvarying rule they must become over weary laborers in 
Stirling industrial hives, poorly paid, with not one chance in ten 
of breaking away from the treadmill. One hour of uplifting and 
purifying freedom in the pure air of the old homestead, no matter 
how hard the work, no matter how humble the surroundings, is 
worth more to any young man or young woman than the fleeting 
and unsatisfactory reward of a year's toil in the hard service of 
the commercial life of our time, where the pressure on mind and 
body is almost intolerable, and where it increases all the while. 
Let us cultivate more earnestly and more effectively love of the 
old homestead. Around its inspiring fireside gathers the grand- 
est memories of American life. Let it ever be enthroned in the 
hearts and minds of the American people. 

Let each one remember the force of personal example and in- 
fluence in all things affecting the common welfare. Society is 
made up of units and each one in some degree affects the con- 
duct, the prosperity and happiness of the other. There was never 
a time when those who occupied positions of household, com- 
mercial and neighborhood influence and responsibility needed to 
be more watchful and faithful in the discharge of daily duties. At 
a social gathering, where the company included many leading 
citizens, a young man, present upon such a brilliant occasion for 
the first time, was politely asked, when the wine was passed 
around, what he would take. Hesitating and embarrassed, the 
suggestive reply was given: "I'll take what father takes." The 
significant words were overheard. The full force of their mean- 



9 o 

ing, for time and eternity, was impressed upon the mind of the 
indulgent parent, who was a man of the world, not given to ex- 
treme self-restraint under ordinary circumstances. But he quick- 
ly realized what must be done and firmly said: "I'll take water." 
A father and son were passing along near a dangerous precipice; 
on a dark and stormy night. The boy suddenly called out: "Be 
careful. I am walking in your footsteps." Swiftly the thought 
came into the mind of the older man, as to his need of circum- 
spection in all the ways of life. Yes, how true it is; they are 
walking in our footsteps, though we may realize it not. 

When Thaddeus Stevens, the great Pennsylvania statesman, 
lay dying, he was asked about his spiritual condition and faith. 
He answered: "I never had religion, as that term is ordinarly un- 
derstood, but I always believed in my good old mother." Ah, 
the influence of one nobfe and consecrated life! It is measured 
not by the flight of time. It extends throughout the life of the 
soul. The eccentric John Randolph, of Roanoke, once said: 
"Whenever I am tempted to become an infidel, I always think of 
my mother and seem to feel her hand upon my head, and to hear 
her voice, as she taught me at her knee, to say: 'Our Father which 
art in heaven.' " From his earliest years, throughout a life reach- 
ing beyond four score, John Quincy Adams never closed his eyes 
in sleep without first reverently repeating the simple little lines, 
which he had learned in childhood: "Now I lay me down to sleep," 
etc., and when the end came, suddenly, in the midst of public du- 
ties, the old Christian patriot could well say: "This is the last of 
earth. I am content." Throughout life we may find danger and 
temptation at every turn, but there is a sure anchorage for all, for 
young and old, for nations as well as individuals, one that will 
not loosen, though the storms beat and the elements rage and 
the earth itself rocks with the convulsions of nature. 

A just cause of complaint. The way out. 

It is sometimes quite justly complained that there has been a 
most unhappy change even in the religious life of the rural re- 
gions. It is said, and with much truth, that the great councils of 
the Church seem to be chiefly occupied with the affairs of the big 
congregations, which worship in gorgeous temples, amidst sur- 
roundings which would dazzle the heavenly choir itself. It is, 
most unfortunately, the custom to leave the country churches to 



9i 

struggle along, and the result is often seen in poor attendance 
and widespread spiritual starvation. The appearance of a flaming 
herald of righteousness, like the fearless and wonderfully en- 
dowed pioneer preachers of long ago, would make the astonished 
residents of the rural regions thus visited think that the end of 
the world was at hand. It is in very many places the story of the 
valley of dry bones, and there is no sign or sound of an awakening. 
Yet, it is not needful that men should be shaken as with a mighty 
wind out of a deep sleep of moral unconsciousness. "The still 
small voice" may do the work with regenerating effectiveness, if 
there is the proper spirit and a genuine cultivation of opportunities 
at hand. 

It is plain that the country folk must work out their own salva- 
tion, and they are abudantly able to do this if they but realize the 
measure of their own inherent strength. They cannot depend 
upon the sympathetic co-operation of the fashionable Christians 
of the great cities, who will at any time more readily make large 
contributions for the heathen in Africa than for the rescue of 
submerged churches in their own land, in town or country, for 
home missions in fields ripe for the harvest, but in which the la- 
borers are all too few and all too weak. The un-American class* 
separation of the time is nowhere more impressively visible than 
in this connection. The favored few revel in spiritual enlighten- 
ment. The masses, beyond the reach of the big church bells, 
must often be content with scattered crumbs. There is still, how- 
ever, one spot in rural America that possesses all the sweet attrac- 
tions, the marvelous inspiration to a higher life that has character- 
ized it for two centuries. 

Beneficent influence of a peculiar people. 

With sublime calmness and faith, the fading remnant of a relig- 
ious society that should never be permitted to disappear is still 
led by the "kindly light" that guided their fathers through dark 
days and deep waters; there is nurtured the same vital spark of a 
living, strengthening and even joyous Christianity. There is the 
same reliance upon divine power; the same calm, immovable faith; 
the same patient and confident waiting upon the spirit; and when 
it moves upon the troubled waters of the soul, there is an outward 
manifestation of inward things that deeply touches and profound- 
ly affects even the careless beholder. Man is a strange bundle of 



9 2 

contradictions. True religion should teach him above all things 
to comprehend the wonderful principles of the true philosophy 
of rest; yet as a rule he cannot worship without outward demon- 
stration that more or less taxes the powers of mind and body. His- 
whole being must be moved in sympathy with the purpose of the 
preacher or teacher by whom he is addressed. He must take some 
part in public service. To sit still and be silent he regards a pen- 
alty not to be endured. There must be audible prayer. There 
must be earnest speech, with which to arouse all the faculties. 
There must be music and plenty of it, or what passes for the same. 
The auditor must see, hear and take part. He must try to sing,, 
if he can do nothing else; and while this reveals his social quali- 
ties, and makes him for the time being more companionable, it i| 
a blessed thing that he does not realize the peculiar quality of his 
own remarkable performances. 

Let the people sing! yea, let all the people sing — who want to,, 
or think they can sing. It brings them out of themselves. It 
lifts them up. It makes them forget the cares and worries, the 
sins and sorrows, the trials and dangers of everyday life. The 
echo of the song in the sanctuary will often abide with the par- 
ticipant. It follows him to his home and cheers him in many a 
dark hour. It surrounds him when he toils. It helps him in his 
work. It gives him a fresh start over many hard places. And 
the same may be said of prayer, as it is commonly understood. 
There is nothing in any language more beautiful, more inspiring, 
or more helpful, than the remarkable productions of devout minds 
which chiefly comprise the prayer portions of the service used by 
the liturgical churches. Some of the ancient collects, recited by 
generation after generation, are models of simplicity and heartfelt 
petitions. They cover like a mantle human frailty. They speak 
volumes as to human experience, and they never can be repeated, 
in humble sincerity and true faith without lasting benefit. So, 
too, the responsive service, which makes the worshipper use the 
prayer book, or the psalter, as is now the custom in many denomi- 
nations, brings pulpit and pew into close relationship, and intense- 
ly adds to the measure of spiritual enjoyment and profit shared by 
all. 



93 

The stranger in a new world. 

Yet there are thousands and tens of thousands of pure-minded, 
•cultivated, and most industrious people who can resort to meet- 
ing-houses utterly devoid of all adornment, with no attractions 
-for the worldly eye or ear, with nothing upon which to fix the 
attention except the calm faces of the elders, as they sit so serenely, 
an example to young and old, ready either to speak or to listen, to 
openly testify, or to let the countenance alone reveal the working 
of the mind and heart. There is an utter absence of novelty. 
There is no looking forward, at stated intervals, for a new preach- 
er. There is nothing approaching excitement. There is no train 
-of expectation. There is no division of sentiment apparent; full 
houses one time and the strange absence of many members of 
the society at another. The very atmosphere seems to be under 
a peculiar spell. The visitor feels that he, too, no matter how 
difficult the task, must conform to the quiet and self-contained 
ways of those about him. The spirit of content settles down upon 
; him unconsciously. He becomes amazed at his own receptiveness. 
He expected to soon get weary. He thought that he would be 
bored to death. He never could stand it. He should want to 
cry out, or run away. He was sure he would make an exhibition 
of himself. He would commit some act of indiscretion, or at least 
impoliteness. He would smile at such queer worship, if he did 
nothing more. 

But as the moments glide by imperceptibly, and the stranger 
looks into the sweet faces beneath the capacious bonnets on one 
side, and beholds the evidences of self-control and perfect peace 
which also mark the features of those about him on the men's 
side, he begins to relax, to forget himself, to be absorbed, to be 
thoroughly bereft of all desire to criticise or to scoff. Every fibre 
of his being, physical, mental and spiritual, is undergoing a new 
and delightful experience. He never before knew what it was 
to rest as in the very hollow of the Almighty hand. His soul is 
stirred within him. He is in full communion with the spirits 
around him. He would readily shake hands with the worst enemy 
lie has on earth. He cannot but realize that showers of blessings 
are descending into waiting hearts like the gentle dews of Heaven. 
A glistening eye here and there, the gentle, noiseless moving of the 
'handkerchief, tells its own story. 



94 

Now the stillness is broken for a few moments. The words of 
Holy Writ sound upon waiting ears. The text may or may not 
be a familiar quotation. It is only the beginning. The speaker 
is only reciting the song of the soul, as it has been wandering 
through green pastures and by still waters. A strange sort of 
sermon, indeed. It passes like a dream, so full of gentleness, of 
the spirit of peace and good will. Not one unkind reflection; not 
even a suggestion of harshness; but the powerful drawing of a 
noble life, appealing sympathetically to men and women, all hav- 
ing a common desire, all seeking strength at the same fountain of 
eternal mercy and goodness and truth. Presently, on the other 
side, a bonnet is removed, as its wearer softly drops upon her knees 
in supplication, while all others reverently rise and stand in si- 
lence. There is the outpouring of a heart full of love to God and 
man; an earnest, touching appeal for Divine aid, for light, for 
help, for guidance, for safety, for salvation. Such a prayer must 
be carried on angel wings beyond the battlements of heaven, to 
the land where there is no night, and where the book of remem- 
brance is kept for those who do the will of Him, "Who so loved 
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

"In my Father's House are many mansions/' 

Then, perhaps, there may be another brief word of testimony 
and exhortation, and all is still again. There arises, on the 
women's side, one whose gentle voice tremulously says: "Let 
not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in 
Me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not 
so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, that 
where I am ye may come also." And this is all! The surpassing 
pathos of it is in the fact that this is a bereaved mother, one who 
never before spoke in meeting, whose little one was suddenly 
taken a fortnight since. This is her testimony of the comfort 
which she has found in this time of darkness and grief. There 
is the faintest rustle on the back benches. An invalid has fainted. 
The old village doctor, sitting just across the aisle, tiptoes around 
noiselessly. Timely relief through the assistance of one of the 
women is rendered, and in a few moments the afflicted one has 
recovered her composure. Meanwhile, there has not been the 
remotest sign of disturbance in any other seat. What superb self- 



95 

control! What immeasurable advantage is the training given 
such people every hour of their quiet lives. In their homes, in 
their meetings, in the social arena, in business circles, everywhere 
it is the same. 

The Quakers dying out? May it never be so! Such a brake 
in society, especially in these restless days, cannot be dispensed 
with. Their influence is felt far beyond the immediate borders 
of every society. What infinite benefit it would be to every man, 
woman and child, not related in any way to Friends, to go to 
Quaker meeting once in a while. Let the overburdened, over- 
wearied, brain-racked business man think of this. Let him turn 
aside, some fourth or fifth day morning, and step into the old 
meeting- house and just get quiet, for even a half hour. He will 
come forth almost a new man. Let him go to Quaker meeting 
first day regularly, once a month, and he will live longer and know 
a great deal more of solid happiness, no matter whether he has 
religious views of any kind or not. Let the excited, worn-out 
society woman go sit amongst the gentle creatures in the Quaker 
meeting. She will think she is in Heaven. Let the wearied 
mother in the humble homes of the community go and be rested. 
Let the workman, whose every muscle is under tension go and be 
refreshed. Weary humanity everywhere is crying out for rest, 
rest! Yet there is no rest, not even one day in the week, for 
great numbers in this land to-day. The Friends not only respect 
the Sabbath, but in their mode of worship they teach all mankind 
how to unbuckle the straps; how to relieve the strain; how to rest. 
If they taught no other lesson, if they accomplished no other task, 
their continued existence would be a benediction in this world of 
care and strife and toil. 




9 6 



XII. 



A union of the forces of honest toil, in field and factory, 
would sweep away the combined enemies of the peo- 
ple, and nothing else will. The mortgage never shrinks. " 







THE unhappy change in the 
social life and surroundings 
of so many American farm- 
ers has been accompanied 
- by still more grievous ones 
in other respects. When 
men have toiled for twenty, 
thirty and forty years and 
suddenly realize that their 
slowly and laboriously acquired savings have been almost entirely 
and mysteriously swept away, they are more than justified in ea- 
gerly demanding the economic or other cause for such a disas- 
trous outcome of national evolution, or industrial revolution, or 
whatever it may rightfully be called. That the complaint of "lost 
or stolen" herein implied is not based upon the imagination, is 
abundantly proven by the cold facts, the unanswerable figures 
given by the official investigators of the federal government. Let 
us take a brief look at the record. 

In 1890 the mortgage indebtedness of practical farmers in the 
United States, numbering 886,000 families, this including about 
5.000,000 persons all told, was $1,085,000,000 (one billion eighty- 
five million dollars), on which the annual interest charge was 
$76,000,000. The estimated value of the land and buildings thus 
encumbered was $3,054,000,000 (three billion fifty-four million dol- 
lars). Over 800,000 families held homes in towns and cities valued 
at $2,632,000,000 (two billion six hundred and thirty-two million 
dollars), upon which the mortgage debt was $1,046,000,000 (one 
billion forty- six million dollars). By far the larger part of these 
farms and homes were valued at less than $4000. The whole 
represents an industrial population of fully 10,000,000, or one- 



97 

seventh of that of the country, and composed almost entirely of 
persons of moderate means. Upwards of ninety-five per cent, 
of these mortgages on farm property and town and city homes 
were for amounts less than $5000 and over eighty per cent, were 
for less than $2500. 

The shrinkage in the market value of the farms concerned dur- 
ing the past seven years, it is reliably estimated — federal official 
figures not being obtainable until the next census is taken — has 
varied from twenty to fifty per cent, according to location and 
special causes, the aggregate being not less than $800,000,000. 
The New York Bureau of Statistics places the shrinkage at from 
fifty to seventy-five per cent. To this crushing loss must be 
added a decrease in the value of farm animals, since 1&90, accord- 
ing to the report of the Department of Agriculture, for 1896, of 
over $700,000,000. Many millions more have been lost in other 
shrinkages. Prices of products in general have been steadily 
downward, except spasmodic and temporary advances, largely 
the result of speculation. In a word, the farmers of the United 
States to-day apparently are poorer by nearly, if not quite, $1,600,- 
000,000 (one billion six hundred million dollars) than they were 
eight years ago. And the same relative loss has been borne by a 
very large proportion of the owners of small homes, above alluded 
to, in the cities and towns. As a rule, there has been no appre- 
ciation in value in their properties, while immense gains have 
been the good fortune of the owners of other property, differently 
situated, and of persons of large means who have been able, many 
of them joining with syndicates, for this purpose, to buy sacrificed 
homes and other real estate. It has been the old story; surolus 
millions, piled up ready for instant use, have made many more 
millions, while the hard-earned savings of hundreds of thousands 
have been blotted out forever. 

Crushing burdens bravely borne. 

Is it cause for wonder, therefore, that the American farmer is 
"kicking like a steer"? Is it cause for wonder that American 
working men are filled with bitter complaint in consequence of 
what they have suffered? Have they not all a just right to de- 
mand an explanation from somebody? And when, in sheer des- 
peration, these classes determined so largely to try to fight their 
way out under the banner of free silver, they were bitterly de- 



9 8 

nounced, by irresponsible newspaper writers and cheap hirelings 
on the stump, as "repudiators," "knaves," "no better than thieves," 
"ignoramuses," "fools," "anarchists," etc. They pointed to the 
most suggestive fact that everything had shrunken almost out of 
sight — except mortgages. But their creditors, of course, were re- 
lentless. The latter, with the total amount of indebtedness paid, 
could buy twice as much land, in many parts of the country,- as 
when the mortgages were created, taking the chances of a rise in 
value and great profit. While the helpless debtors had lost, ap- 
parently forever, thousands of millions of dollars, their creditors 
had lost absolutely nothing, and many of them were likely to make 
large and most unjust gains through forclosure and subsequent 
sales and reinvestment of the money at great advantage. 

Let us look at this matter with a true regard for the principles 
of equity ; for a little while, if you please, according to the golden 
rule. The struggling farmer borrowed $2000 on land and build- 
ings estimated to be worth fully $5000, and generally a little more. 
The rule runs between thirty and forty per cent. He expended 
much of the money obtained in improving the property and kept 
it up to a high state of cultivation. He paid the interest prompt- 
ly, working hard, but could not save the principal. The debt is 
due, the market value of the farm now being only $2500 or $3000, 
and at a forced sale it would not much more than bring tne amount 
of the mortgage. But the creditor is not content to share one 
dollar of the unfortunate shrinkage which has taken place. No, 
indeed! That would be an unheard-of proceeding. He never 
could consider such an "absurd and dishonest" suggestion. It 
would be "unbusinesslike." Such a thing would "ruin" every 
money lender in the world. No! He must have the letter of 
the bond, to the last penny. He must have the pound of flesh, 
if it does take with it the life blood of the debtor and his family, 
driving them homeless into the highway. 

No, the mortgage never shrinks! Snugly stowed away, in its 
owner's strong box, in the safe deposit vault of a big trust com- 
pany, it brings its return as regularly and as surely as the rising 
and setting of the sun. It does not require its owner to be out! 
at all seasons, at break of day, laboring with all his strength to 
keep it from shrinking out of sight. No, he can travel abroad 
luxuriously and spend his days in idleness, while it simply lays 
there, quite content, perfectly safe, guarded by day and by night, 



99 

secured by the whole power of local, state and national govern- 
ment, the embodiment of ease, independence, security and syste- 
matic gain. The owner is entitled to his possession, however. 
Lee him not be disturbed; no one wishes to rob him, to dispossess 
him or to do him any injury; and, least of all, the men who repre- 
sent the bone and sinew, the best morality, the steadfast industry, 
the inflexible integrity, the truest patriotism of the American peo- 
ple. He will get his due, no matter what it costs. But let him 
remember, that millions of the best men this or any other land 
ever produced, honest and faithful tillers of the soil, laborers in 
field and factory, artisans and honest tradesmen, working women 
and helpless orphans, scattered throughout this broad land, have, 
through no fault of their own, been the victims of a greater 
financial loss, during the past seven years, than was ever sadly 
experienced and heroically endured since the world began. And 
the end is not yet. 

The union of forces that is needed. 

The prolonged agitation throughout the West, twenty years 
ago, the object of which was to secure legislation which would 
protect farmers and promote their interests, did not produce the 
results so earnestly desired. Certain laws were enacted and a 
federal department to regulate transportation between the states 
was established. But it has been conclusively demonstrated that 
while producers and consumers must pay unjust tribute, in con- 
sequence of over-capitalization to the extent of two thousand 
million dollars, both freight and passenger rates will be kept up 
beyond the necessities of normal and healthful financial and com- 
mercial conditions. Further, while it is within the power of 
grasping and unscrupulous speculators, singly or in syndicates, 
to "corner" the necessities of life and to temporarily inflate or de- 
press prices for selfish purposes, the people will be at the mercy 
of conditions hateful and ruinous. Honest, wise and patriotic 
legislation, state and national, could do 1 very much to bring about 
the change in the condition of affairs so sadly needed. But the 
fearful pressure of partisanship blocks the way. The creatures 
of the political machine continue to deceive and mislead voters. 

Broadaxe, Bumpkin and Plug and their counterparts in the 
rural regions, and Crook, Rocks, Heeler, McSwiggin, Slick and 
Sneak and their subsidized and obedient hirelings in the towns 



and cities, and at the seats of legislation, hoodwink their follow- 
ers and prey upon helpless communities. The farmer maintains 
an unequal contest and the working- man is the victim of hopes- 
deferred through secret treachery and open hostility of the most 
powerful and selfish character. Just demands are refused and 
laws unenforced. When will the great right arm of the nation, in- 
telligent and self-respecting labor, realize and assert its mighty 
power? A union of the forces of honest toil would sweep away 
the combined enemies of the people, would work a revolution in 
the social, industrial, political and commercial arenas, and nothing 
else will. Why does this fact not impress itself upon the minds 
of all concerned? Numerically, the farmers, artisans, small trad- 
ers and other honest toilers of the country exceed the drones, para j 
sites, leeches and miscellaneous servants of tyrannical and corrupt 
political leaders, ten to one. The trial of strength will come soon, 
and with it the annihilation of the enemies of true American prin- 
ciples, clean politics and honest government. 

How unrestricted immigration has injured all. 

There is one thought upon which every student of existing in- 
dustrial conditions in the United States, and every citizen should 
deeply ponder. Nothing has so greatly contributed to bring 
about "hard times" on this side of the Atlantic Ocean as unre- 
stricted immigration. The plain facts are conclusive. Within 
the past twenty years nearly 8,000,000 foreigners have been landed 
011 our shores. Upwards of 500,000 of these came as farmers and 
nearly all journeyed westward, adding to the agricultural pro- 
duction the surplus grain, etc., the necessary sending abroad of 
which has fixed the prices at home. Here is where the American 
farmer has been hit by immigration quite as hard, though in a 
different way, as the unprotected American working man. Here 
is a nut to crack at every Western fireside. Look into it care- 
fully, ye men of the field and the granary. 

Up to about 1877 general industry in this country fairly kept 
pace with the increase in the working population. The wide- 
spread labor troubles of that fateful year, an ominous epoch in 
our national history, were immediately followed by the prepara- 
tion and adoption and subsequent carrying out, of a far-reaching 
plan which had for its object nothing less than the complete and 
permanent subjugation of American labor. Theretofore, immi- 



gration had taken its own course and had not only done no narm, 
but had been productive of vast material good to the nation. The 
hardy, honest, industrious, and for the greater part, intelligent, 
strangers coming hither were law-abiding and honorably ambi- 
tious home-seekers. They came almost entirely from amongst 
the very best classes in Great Britain and Northern Europe. 
They quickly and loyally became part of our teeming and pros- 
perous national life. Not one man in twenty had the remotest 
thought of merely staying a little while, like mercenary adven- 
turers, with the purpose of living like cattle, saving every penny 
possible, sending money back home by every steamer, and then 
going themselves, leaving a trail of foulness, disaster, robbery and 
distress. 

Such destructive birds of passage, unclean human vultures, were 
vnknown in our fair land until a few years ago. They came in re- 
sponse to the cold-blooded demand of the conspirators against 
self-respecting American laborers. They were caught up in the 
lowest and filthiest highways and byways and out of the prisons 
and workhouses of Eastern and Southern Europe, brought like 
herds of dumb beasts and dumped down, by fifties and hundreds 
and thousands, at the mouths of mines, at the doors ui giass fur- 
naces and iron mills, at the headquarters of city street contractors 
and along the line of new railways. The foreign steamship agent, 
the villainous padrone and the heartless American capitalist have 
united in a despicable work that has wrought infinite suffering in 
a multitude of humble homes, made a great army of dependents, 
paupers, tramps and criminals, imperiled society, broken up in- 
dustrial peace and prosperity, burdened the state and brought 
lasting dishonor upon the whole nation. 

More millions for millionaires. 

But this selfish system of modern money-kings has put hun- 
dreds of millions of dollars into the already bulging safe deposit 
coffers of the conscienceless employers of cheap and degrading 
iabor. It has multiplied millionaires, who like mushrooms, have 
come up almost in a night. One iron master, in the city of Pitts- 
burg, for every working day in one year, drew $5000 as his share 
of the profits from a single mill, a net income, from this source 
alone, of $1,500,000. Yet, a little later, this same grasping tyrant, 
quarreled with his three thousand men over a matter of a few cents 



wages a day, and precipitated the bloodiest and most disgraceful 
conflict known in the industrial history of the new world. The 
taxpayers of the state were compelled to bear a burden in conse- 
quence thereof of over $300,000. This iron king next built for 
himself a gilded monument of ostentatious beneficence, every 
stone and brick of which is marked by the cruel stains of unre- 
quited toil. He well knew that the people would never thus honor 
him. Indeed, there was just public protest against official recog- 
nition on the part of the municipality of this vain parade of virtues 
never possessed. The declaration of working men on this sub- 
ject was impressive. 

It has cost the taxpayers of Pennsylvania over $6,000,000 during 
the past twenty years to maintain a military force that has only 
been needed to put down riots caused by the greed of the employ- 
ers of cheap foreign labor, most of these troubles being caused ill 
great measure by this treacherous element itself. Other indus- 
trial states have likewise been afflicted and burdened on the same 
account. The spirit and the letter of the so-called anti-contract 
immigration law has been defiantly set at naught. Tens of thou- 
sands of cheap laborers have been brought in all the same, going 
straight way to the points desired, undoubtedly by pre-arrange- 
tnent with secret agents. The personal investigation of a patri- 
otic member of the present Congress revealed the fact of syste- 
matic violation of the law in many essential particulars. A great 
part of the time the federal bureau of inspection has been nothing 
but a rope of sand. 

How protection has been perverted. 

When the people demand that this business shall stop, the con- 
centrated power of the immigration lobby is brought to bear upon 
Congress and the Executive, and, asking bread, they are given a 
stone; asking fish, they are given a scorpion. They have upheld, 
almost uninterruptedly, the economic policy of protection to 
American industry, only to see that this does not mean protection 
for all laborers, but increased profits for favored employers. A 
national executive, posing all his life as the special champion of 
American labor, having achieved the object of his ambition, when 
asked to say one good, strong and timely word for those who so 
loyally supported him and sustained the cause he was supposed 
to represent, coldly turned his back. Instead of using at once and 



103 

effectively all the power of his great office to shut the open gates 
through which has poured the flood which has overwhelmed his 
struggling countrymen, he is silent. One more instance of per- 
sonal ingratitude and official betrayal of the cause of patriotism, 
humanity and national prosperity and happiness. The picture 
presented' at the mines of Pennsylvania and many other places 
where the gigantic and ruinous evil here referred to has planted 
itself, is a reproduction of an industrial inferno. 

Let some figures tell their own story. The number of immi- 
grants from 1878 to 1897, inclusive, was 7,974,000. A very large 
proportion of this number came from Russia and southern Europe 
and hundreds of thousands have swung back and forth, carrying 
their underserved gains with them. By their presence decent and 
law-abiding American labor has lost, through unjust competi- 
tion and enforced idleness, many millions of dollars, and scores of 
millions more have been taken out of the country. In 1896 one- 
half as many steerage passengers traveled east as came west. Soon 
as there is the sign of industrial revival these degrading creatures 
come again in swarms, and they will continue to come to still fur- 
ther sink American labor until there is a rising of the people which 
will admonish those responsible that there must be a restoration 
of national methods, a recognition of the inalienable rights of the 
American workman. 



io4 



XIII. 



"The so=called law of supply and demand is the most in- 
human device ever invented for the destruction of 
humanity — It means the hungriest man gets the job." 




^^ 



THE late Judge Jeremiah S. 
Black, of national and interna- 
tional fame in his profession, 
and as an observer and student 
of and participant in public 
affairs, one day suggestively 
remarked to the writer: "La- 
bor is a blind giant, which 
thrashes itself in its vain effort 
to secure justice and promote 
its own interests in conflict 
with those who seek to control it unjustly and use it for their own 
selfish purposes." The thought thus expressed aptly summed up 
the situation which was presented by passing events. Judge Black 
also, at the same time, called attention to his address at the cele- 
bration of the Centenary of Grattan's Declaration of Irish Inde- 
pendence, under the auspices of the National Land League of 
Maryland, in Baltimore, April 18, 1882, in which he forcibly said: 
"In all countries and in every age some persons have sought 
not only to live,but to flourish and fatten on the industries of others 
Various methods of effecting their object have been introduced, 
by force or fraud, and carried on under legal regulations. In 
feudal times the plan of those who held power consisted merely in 
extorting rents from the cultivators of the soil, and taxes from 
those who worked at the mechanic arts. In modern days other 
inventions for the same purpose have been sought after and found 
out. Land and labor are the sources of all wealth, now as much 
as ever, and the legalized schemes are innumerable for draining it 
away from those who create it. Some of these devices have been 
brought to as much perfection in this country as in any other. 
Here, as elsewhere, unjust legislation and cunning arrangements 



i°5 

of business grind the working man to swell the colossal fortune of 
the upstart adventurer. Here, as elsewhere, the hastening evil 
is upon us of a community 'where wealth accumulates and men 
decay.' " 

A vivid picture of existing conditions and a startling prophesy 
concerning the future of the great Republic, which was founded to 
establish and maintain the principle of manly equality, to afford 
every good citizen of industrious habits an opportunity to make 
his own way, to care for those dependent upon him, and to build, 
modestly or otherwise, according to the measure of his ability, a 
structure of independence and abiding comfort. Half a century 
ago a gigantic national struggle was precipitated over the wrongs 
and sufferings of four million people held in bondage in the south- 
ern states. Yet it was stoutly maintained that a very large pro- 
portion of these bondmen and bond-women and bond-children 
were very much better off than they would be under other cir 
cumstances. They all had comfortable homes, even the lowliest 
of them. They were well provided for as to food, and shelter, and 
clothing. They were closely looked after in case of illness, not 
through humanitarian sympathy, but as the result of selfish inter- 
est, much more effective in all such cases, to the discredit of those 
concerned be it said. The southern slave in his cabin and in the 
field, knew nothing of want; he knew nothing of care; he was 
never starved; he was never compelled to beg, nor to hear his 
children cry for bread. 

The new American Slavery. 

Human slavery was without doubt a monstrous sin and evil. 
Yet there is a slavery which extends far and wide throughout this 
highly favored land to-day, far worse in every essential respect, 
more degrading and more terrible, than that which was known 
before the civil war. In every great centre of population, in every 
town, in almost every village, and even throughout a considera- 
ble number of rural districts, may be found a greater or lesser 
number of the pitiful victims of the most abject poverty, men, 
women and children, young and old, sick and well, the lame, the 
halt and the blind, who know not to-day where the crust of to- 
morrow is to come from. In every great city every night in the 
year there are thousands who have no place in which to rest their 



io6 

weary heads. At one time, a little while ago, there were five 
thousand children living in the streets of New York. 

The outward and visible signs of wretchedness and distress are 
only indicative of how much is suffered of which the general pub- 
lic knows absolutely nothing. A London journal recently gave 
a vivid and heart-sickening description of the fearful condition of 
a single class, the sewing- women of that city, saying: "Never -be- 
fore in the history of the world has the condition of these poor 
people been so appalling; never before has their patient heroism 
been so triumphant." And the same words, intensified, may be 
used with absolute truthfulness, concerning life in every American 
city at this time with a large number of the most deserving mem- 
bers of the community. There is no open cry of distress. The 
heavy burden is borne in silence. Those who suffer the most say 
the least. It is one long continued and horrible struggle merely 
for existence; a desperate battle with conditions which should 
never have been known in America. At this hour the sympa- 
thies of the nation are justly aroused in behalf of the suffering 
victims of barbaric warfare in a neighboring isle. Yet it is a self- 
condemnatory fact that in every American city may be found 
thousands of our own people, worthy of assistance in every way, 1 
who are literally starving, dying by inches, through lack of proper 
and sufficient food. Even unborn children — the vital statistics of 
every health board pitifully show it — are starved before they be- 
gin the weary journey of life. What a horrible reflection upon our 
boasted civilization! Will the nation itself not be punished for 
permitting such a state of things to exist? 

The black list and its victims. 

The number of those swept into this fearful whirlpool of poverty 
and desperation increases every hour. Every labor contest adds 
its quota of victims of the infamous black list, which courts, in 
their blind subserviency, have sustained as lawful. Helpless 
wives, innocent children, aged parents, invalid brothers and sis- 
ters are all called upon to pass through deep waters, because, for- 
sooth, the head of the humble home, driven almost to despair, 
has joined his fellows in a useless struggle against iron-hearted 
masters, whose guiding principle is the steadfast application of 
the so-called "law" of supply and demand; the most inhuman 
device ever invented for the destruction of humanity, the burden- 



ing of the state and the obliteration of all noble instincts in the 
hearts and minds of men. Plainly translated, so that all may un- 
derstand it, this rule simply means, that the hungriest man gets 
the job. It regulates the scale of wages not by what men are 
worth to their employers ; not by the measure of profit which fairly 
accrues from their faithful toil, but from the number of idle men, 
hungry, eager, perhaps starving at the gate, and the greater num- 
ber of those looking to them for bread. 

So long as there is an over-supply of labor, the workman is at 
the mercy of his employer. And during the past twenty years 
every field of industrial activity in this country has been kept more 
than full, the result being continuous effort to draw the rope 
tighter and tighter; to control the situation with a firmer hand; 
to reap larger profits; to prevent, by every means possible, the 
complete organization of American labor and compliance with 
its just demands. Instead of there being peace and universal 
prosperity, there has been almost continuous warfare, with dis- 
astrous consequences to great numbers of our people, and in- 
creasing burdens to every community thus affected. A public 
journal recently observed: "The harvest is past, the summer nearly 
ended, yet the crop of labor troubles continues to be gathered." 

How it was in former days. 

Let us for a little while take a look backward — behold the 
peaceful scenes of an earlier and better time, which were so famil- 
iar to a former generation. Manufacturing industry, as well as 
many other lines of industrial activity in the United States, is the 
result of a development running back three-quarters of a centu- 
ry. Out along the many streams that feed the great rivers, empty- 
ing into the upper portion of the Atlantic ocean, throughout the 
New England and Middle states, there are to be found typical 
cotton, woolen and iron mills. Many of these were erected be- 
tween 1825 and 1840. Many of the villages clustered about these 
pioneer factories still bear the characteristic marks of their broad- 
minded and large-hearted founders, though in many respects de- 
pressing changes may be noted. Many of the early operatives in 
these mills entered them fresh from the immigrant ships, after 
wearisome voyages from the old world. 

These were the days of small numbers of workmen, closely su- 
perintended by a manager, who knew all about every person sub- 



io8 

ject to his direction, and who was also a practical mill worker 
of experience. It was his special duty, as the representa- 
tive of the owner, who generally resided in the nearest city, look- 
ing after the purchase of raw material and the sale of his products, 
to observe the condition of things in the mill and the homes of 
the operatives. There was a community of interest that ren- 
dered it quite impossible for any serious dispute to take place, for 
any labor difficulty of the least importance to arise. If an opera- 
tive became dissatisfied and thought he could better himself, he 
quietly went his way and took his family with him. 

These were the days, too, of long hours. Up to within a short 
time before the war, the mills began operations, six months in 
the year, at or before daylight, and continued until long after dark. 
But complaint was seldom heard. Wages were low, compared 
with those of a later period, but there were many privileges not 
now granted and many comforts now unknown. If illness or 
other trouble overtook a family, the mill manager's wife was always 
ready with sympathetic aid. During the summer her spring house 
was freely open to all deserving persons who needed special 
nourishment. The village church was the religious home of every- 
body. They all met upon the same level. The mill manager 
frequently devoted a larg-e part of his spare time and of his slender 
means — for he, too, received only meagre compensation — to the 
care of the circuit preacher and the promotion of his work. Ten- 
der memories of the writer's own boyhood, in a Pennsylvania vil- 
lage. 

Striking and painful contrasts. 

In some of these same villages all this has been changed, sadly 
changed. The old fashioned manager has gone forever. In his 
place is found a smart, selfish, tyrannical boss, whose big house on 
the hill is guarded by savage dogs. He spends his Sunday driv- 
ing fast horses, careless of the spiritual welfare of his neighbors, 
and having no conscience of his own to trouble him. The old 
spring house is in ruins. It is hard to forgive him! The mill 
operatives are driven about under whip and spur, all the while 
growing more embittered against their employers. Their per- 
sonal condition has deteriorated most sadly. In very many 
branches of industry one period of depression has succeeded an- 
other, with reduction of wages, strikes, lock-outs, and quarrels 



109 



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innumerable, many of them costly and some of them attended 
with most deplorable consequences, employer and employee 
drifting farther and farther apart. They have ceased to know- 
each other. The former only regards his various kinds of "help" 
as belonging to two distinct classes, animate and inanimate. All 
are machines together, to be run at the highest tension, securing 
the greatest possible profit. 

Small factories and shops are rapidly disappearing. Consoli- 
dation, combination, with millions instead of thousands as capital, 
is the order of the day. How can a man who employs five thou- 
sand workmen, know anything about them? How can he sub- 
divide his sympathies, so as to have any personal relationship 
with them? Living wholly apart from them, never looking into 
their homes, knowing nothing and caring nothing as to their per- 
sonal wants, needs or temptations, disdaining even to worship 
together the Creator of both, his heart becomes cold, callous, 
uterly indifferent. By and bye he tries to make it all right through 
partial restitution, by flinging a few bags of money here and there, 
for alleged "charitable" or religious purposes. He builds a 
church, establishes a reading-room, endows a hospital bed and 
thinks he has acquitted himself before men and angels. But he 
cares nothing for his people. The breaking of a wheel means ex- 
pense for repairs. The wearing out of a man or a woman merely 
means the substitution of another, perhaps at lower wages. 

The pauperism of honest labor. 

To-day all New England, interested in the textile industry, is in 
the throes of a manufacturing revolution. A critical hour is at 
hand. The cotton manufacturers are face to face with the situa- 
tion which they have long feared and tried to avoid. Perceiving 
certain chances of great gain in another field, capitalists have 
erected in the south, beside the cotton fields, with newly discov- 
ered fuel beds at hand and an abundance of the cheapest kind of 
labor, anxious for work, extensive plants and boldly declare that 
they mean to be the new kings of the realm. They care nothing 
for the industrial desolation which must result elsewmere. They 
are not concerned with the equities of the case. They do not 
stop to consider whether the laborer is worthy of his hire, whether 
the mill operative should receive living wages, or not. They sim- 
ply know that it is within their power to command the services 



of poverty-stricken communities, through the employment of 
women and children in the mills, at wages never before dreamed of 
in this country, and they propose to go ahead. 

The tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of poor New 
Englanders who have been working these many years for a meagre 
living only, can go jump into the sea, for all the southern manu- 
facturer, the northern capitalist transplanted, cares. A Philadel- 
phia owner of a southern cotton mill recently stated that he could 
continue operations, even with the protective tariff wiped out, it 
being entirely within his ability to secure all the labor needed, at 
rates quite as low as those in free trade England. Some of his 
ragged and barefooted "help," however, he said he had been com- 
pelled to assist, in a "charitable" way, because they could not live 
at all on the pittance paid. Such an abuse of the privileges of an 
employer is a blistering disgrace to modern civilization. Here is 
a passing item from the Phoenix, Alabama, News : 

"Men in our cotton mills are working for 50 cents a day and 
boys are receiving but 15 cents. Not satisfied with getting work 
done on these terms, the factory owners lengthened the cut five 
yards where piece work is done without lengthening the pay, and. 
in this way have taken from the poor fellows over $5,000 in the 
past year." 

Millions against the millions. 

The manufacturers of America have made an enormous amount 
of money as the result of exceptional opportunities, largely 
through the political support of their employees. On every hand 
may be seen the evidences of this acquired wealth. There are 
great mansions, in town and country, at seaside and in the moun- 
tains. Immense establishments have been erected and surplus 
earnings have been invested in ways which have added many more 
millions to the aggregate possessed. There has been no possible 
excuse — the glaring facts before the eyes of every intelligent ob- 
server abundantly prove it — for the oppression of labor which has 
so sadly marked many branches of industry. The God of nations, 
in his all-wise wisdom and wonderful beneficence, placed within 
the bowels of the earth untold wealth for the American laborers 
who should bring it forth. They have a just right to an equita- 
ble share in the profits which may legitimately arise from the de- 
velopment of such an industry. 



H3 

Yet there is no place on earth to-day, in the old world or the 
new, presenting a more dismal, distressful, hopeless picture of 
crushed humanity than the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania. 
A miserable pittance is paid the men in the mine, while consum- 
ers of coal are held up by a band of highwaymen, who compel them 
to pay extortionate toll as the result of transportation over lines of 
railway which have been manipulated by syndicates and specula- 
tors, The users of anthracite coal are robbed of $20,000,000 every 
year. There is gigantic robbery at both ends of the line, and the 
wonder is there has not been a terrific convulsion in consequence 
of the open plundering to which the people have been subjected. 
There has been almost equal oppression in other sections of the 
country where coal miners are employed, while iron workers have 
been engaged in one continuous battle to prevent their being 
pushed to the wall. Throughout the country there have been 
desperate conflicts between labor and capital and the daily press 
has teemed with distressing accounts, in no wise exaggerated, of 
the sufferings endured by the victims of strikes, lock-outs and 
trust combinations which have thrown thousands out of employ- 
ment and left them a burden upon the community. 

Human flesh and blood never were so cheap as to-day. The 
thoughtless multitude, attracted by the flaring announcement of 
big sales of manufactured goods at ruinous prices, rush in and buy 
never thinking what it all means. Women with tender hearts, but 
who know nothing of what they are doing, thus help to grind out 
the' lives of their sisters and intensify the struggle for existence. 
Chemical science has invented a plan of detecting the work of 
the forger. When the searching fluid is applied, the crime is fully 
revealed. In that last great day, when the judgment books are 
opened and all things made known, the blood spots will vividly 
stand forth, showing how some of the cheap garments which the 
women of our times wear were made. The pitiful song of the 
shirt is echoed every day and every night in thousands of tene- 
ments and lonely, cheerless rooms, as well as in the great fac- 
tories, where the human frame is taxed beyond its strength, is 
overwrought to satisfy the insatiate greed of men of to-day who, 
all the while, hold their heads high, pose as the disciples of the 
loftiest code of morals, make loud pretense of unselfish interest 
in the spiritual welfare of mankind. By and bye there will be a 
reckoning, and some of those who now boast of their riches and 



ii4 

their power will cry out for the rocks to fall upon them and hide 
them from the just wrath of men, the vengeance of Him who 
knows the sufferings of all and who will administer justice to all. 
"He shall judge the poor of the people, He shall save the children 
of the needy and shall break in pieces the oppressor." 

Excuses that do not answer. 

Superficial writers have sought to show that the humbler work- 
ing classes in this country were never so well off as they are to- 
day. The savings bank deposits are used as a stock argument, 
with characteristic indifference to the real facts of the situation, 
as revealed thereby. The number of depositors, last year, was 
5,201,000; the amount of deposits a little short of $2,000,000,000, 
an average of about $375 each. That is to say, if these savings 
were equally divided — an absurd suggestion — and this was all the 
owners possessed, the five million depositors would have only a 
year of frugal living, and much less than that if ill and needing 
attendance, ahead of starvation, or the poor-house. The fact is, 
however, a large proportion of this money in the savings banks 
represents the holdings of persons who are not poor, but who pre- 
fer these institutions to other means of deposit. They have always 
been favored by the widows of old fashioned merchants, well to do 
spinsters, guardians and many other persons of considerable 
means. 

Every bank failure shows that the average deposit of the poorer 
classes does not reach $100, and often it is not one-third of that 
amount. These savings bank deposits should have been five times 
the amount shown; and they would have been, if a different eco- 
nomic system had prevailed; if the wages paid were nearer within 
the range of a just return for faithful and efficient service rendered. 
It has been shown a thousand times within the past ten years, 
when strikes, lock-outs, failures and enforced suspensions of work 
on account of trust combinations have occurred, that the indus- 
tiial workers of the United States at this time, as a class, are not 
Sixty days ahead of starvation, unless sustained by the small 
traders with whom they deal — and who thus have a heavy and 
unjust burden to carry, the only alternative being relief through 
so-called "chanty." 



"5 
Some impressive facts. 

Here is a fact not generally known, one which reflects the deep- 
est discredit upon those responsible for such a state of things: The 
Labor Bureau statistics of different states show that the average 
income of manual workers is not over $9.50 a week, the year 
round, and that of the female workers scarcely reaches naif this 
beggarly sum. This is not the widely heralded "rate of wages," 
which is a very different thing. Under existing conditions, con- 
stant turmoil in the labor world, the worker loses a great deal of 
time through causes beyond his or her control, and every hour is 
deducted when pay-day comes. The result is a net income that 
makes life a desperate battle for bare existence. This is the secret 
of the unhappy condition which prevails in such an immense num- 
ber of American homes to-day. The head of the family, no matter 
how industrious and frugal — and this applies to an enormous 
number of the employees in mercantile life — is unable to make 
a comfortable living for the household, the younger members be- 
ing compelled to quit school and go to work at a very tender age. 
The law forbids the employment of children in mines and facto- 
ries, but thousands are compelled to begin the struggle almost 
before they have entered their teens, in offices and stores, where 
they earn only a trifle and sacrifice the most precious educational 
years of their lives. It is inhuman to require such over-wearied 
little toilers, when night comes, to pour over their books to cry 
to make up what they are otherwise losing. Not one in ten is 
physically capable of bearing such a strain upon an unformed 
body and brain. 

The rate of wages now paid to the cheaper class — and this is 
by far the large majority — of mercantile and counting house help- 
ers, averages scarcely more than one dollar and a half a day. Mul- 
titudes of these boys and young men find themselves, a little later, 
from lack of knowledge and proper training and adaptation to 
their surroundings, miserable hewers of wood and drawers of 
water, doomed to lives of bitter disappointment. They are with- 
out capacity to make a decent living for themselves; much less 
can they hope to assume the duties and responsibilities of mature 
manhood. Marriage and a comfortable home of their own is 
something not even to be dreamed of. What a pitiable and peril- 
ous, social condition in the near future is thus indicated! In many 
mercantile houses it is the custom to have five young men do the 



n6 

work of three, and the same rule applies to the other sex. This 
keeps down the rate of wages and prevents insubordination. No^ 
body can save anything and become independent. Besides, each 
one knows that on the roll of those waiting is to be found the 
names of hundreds for every vacancy that occurs. It is another 
application of the iron-hearted "law" of supply and demand. 

The number of unemployed. 

An employer of this class roughly asked a young man who came 
to him, hoping for some little consideration, as a return for faith- 
ful service: "Why, do you know, I can fill this store with bright 
young men who would be glad to come here and work for noth- 
ing?" Just so. The more's the pity! It is the crowd outside, 
idle and despairing, that makes virtual slaves of the over-worked 
crowd inside. None have any rights that the employing class is 
bound to respect. They must take what is given them and be 
thankful for it, too. And they have no surety whatever of their 
places from one week to another. Any department which runs 
behind, or does not come up to expectations, is immediately re- 
adjusted, and the first thing done is to reduce the labor cost, 
either by cutting down wages, or dismissing some of the "help." 
And the pressure on the part of the unemployed increases every 
hour. These unpleasant but stubborn facts should convey an 
impressive warning to young men and women in the country who 
long to share the excitement and supposed advantages of city life. 
As you value your future peace of mind and welfare, remain in 
the old homestead. The head of one large concern recently stated 
that they had five thousand applications a month for employment. 
What a terrible picture is here presented, as the result of existing 
social and industrial conditions. 

It is frequently said, by way of defense of the present industrial 
system, that thousands of American workmen "own their own 
homes." It should rather be said that they did — "own their own 
homes;" that is, they thought they had homes, but the blighting 
and blistering process of the recent past has wiped out these real 
estate holdings in a multitude of cases. The ever-living and ever- 
grasping mortgage never shrank and in the end it swallowed the 
little house and all the purchase money disappeared also. "But 
look at their comfortable furniture and nice clothing," say these 
apologists for shoddy millionairism. Yes, and see the kind of 



iiy 

stuff they must now be content to buy and wear, regardless of com- 
fort or health. "All wool" that would scare a sheep into fits; 
cheap and wretchedly made clothing that is shabby and worthless 
almost before the creases are out of it. There is any quantity of 
this "cheap" material for the working man and his family, and 
it is the dearest and the meanest that honest people were ever 
compelled to put up with. 

This whole business is a gigantic swindle and wrong, from be- 
ginning to end. Let us hear no more such silly excuses for a sys- 
tem that leaves the American workman holding a bag full of holes. 
He earns his wages — much more than he gets — and they are 
quickly expended in a desperate struggle for existence. Think 
of i f . The tendency is all one way. The mills of the go 1 den gods 
are grinding all the time. The number of the dependent classes, 
victims of helpless poverty, increases every hour, and no small 
farmer and no American workman, no matter what the measure of 
his industry, frugality and anxious care of his own flesh and blood: 
has or can have the least assurance that his children, who are 
dearer to him than life itself, will not be numbered amongst the 
pitiful paupers of the next generation. Such a prospect, even such 
a possibility, is enough to make men mad, enough to make them 
rise in blind fury, after the manner suggested by Judge Black, 
and tear down the pillars of the industrial and social temple, bury- 
ing in its ruins the heartless society that is responsible for such 
injustice, for such a mountain of heartaches, for such extremity 
of bitterness, for such lasting misery, for such hideous mockery 
ot the true spirit of American institutions. 




XIV. 




A problem of momentous character. Help these people! 
Save them, for their own sake, for the sake of the 
nation, for the sake of mankind." 

INTELLIGENCE, patriot- 
ism and virtue are the safe- 
guards of freedom. But 
there has been grave ne- 
glect of national and per- 
sonal duties. As previous- 
ly noted, unrestricted im- 
migration has brought to 
our shores, especially with* 
in recent years, a most for- 
bidding and dangerous 
element, not in sympathy 
with our national life and which never can and never will be profit- 
ably assimilated therewith. This, too, has intensified the struggle 
for existence throughout many centres of population, and the in- 
fluence of such a demoralizing invasion of ignorance and spiritual 
as well as mental degradation and physical uncleanliness has ex- 
tended far and wide. This is the land of free schools and theoretic^ 
ally of universal education; yet, to-day, vast numbers of children 
and youth are growing up in a condition which must make them, 
in a little while, a burden to themselves, to society and the state. 
When laws are passed providing at least a partial remedy for this 
deplorable condition of affairs, they are largely ignored. Parental* 
ignorance, indifference and sad necessity in countless cases, com- 
bined with cruel avarice, official neglect, political demagogueism 
and general public thoughtlessness, makes them a dead-letter upon 
the statute books. 

Meanwhile, the evil grows apace. The danger to the Republic 
increases. The wrong to posterity becomes more and more ap- 
parent. Changing conditions have brought about a state of af- 
fairs in all our great cities particularly which no thoughtful ob- 
server can contemplate without the profoundest apprehension. 
There are not merely centres but extended areas of extreme pov- 



ii9 

erty, vice and crime, which affect whole communities. A mis- 
sionary tour of observation through some portions of New York, 
Philadelphia, Boston, Brooklyn, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago, 
St. Louis, or any other American city, reveals a condition of affairs 
that may well appall the friend of humanity and the patriotic citi 
zen pondering upon what must be seen in the coming century. It 
is a stupendous question and should receive more consideratioi 
than it does from the responsible citizenship of the time, from the 
leaders in society, in the business world, in the church and state. 

Threatened relapse into barbarism. 

The facts presented to every inquiring mind are sadly sugges- 
tive. There is a steady and relative increase in the number of the 
dependent and the vicious classes. Prison doors swing both ways 
every day in the year, and reformatory institutions are overcrowd- 
ed, while there is enough wayward material to demand the exist- 
ence of three times as many as the state is now compelled to sup- 
port. We have a permanent criminal population, behind the bars, 
of about one hundred thousand, and are annually raising an in- 
creasing crop of these human tares. And it must be remembered 
that there is a very much larger number of evil doers and viciously 
disposed persons at large all the time than there is under lawful 
restraint. During the past generation the proportion of criminals 
to the whole population in the United States, has shown an in- 
crease of nearly five hundred per cent. This, too, in spite of the 
enormous multiplication of Churches and Christian and education- 
al efforts of every kind, with philanthropic agencies more active 
than ever, and the lavish expenditure of money for charitable pur- 
poses. 

A notable student of these problems, Prof. Boies, in his earnest- 
minded review of the question, says: "Such a disproportion can- 
not continue indefinitely without a relapse into barbarism and so- 
cial ruin, the number of inmates of prisons and reformatories 
having during the last decade increased nearly twice as fast as the 
general population. It is more startling because such a state oi 
things does not exist in other civilized nations, as the public rec- 
ords show." The administration of justice goes steadily on, but 
unhappily, all does not end with the grinding of the mills of the 
gods. The fearful grist remains and how to dispose of it is a prob- 
lem which surpasses the wisdom, burdens the heart, overtaxes 



120 

the mind and exhausts the energy of the philanthropist. The state 
does not fully meet its duty when it merely, in a cold and heartless 
way, inflicts punishment upon the wrongdoer, or provides food 
and shelter for the pauper. This great problem should be met 
under the full realization of the wisdom of the proverb that pre- 
vention is better than cure. In self defense society must awake 
and exert itself for protection and the rescue and uplifting of im- 
periled humanity. 

Organized charity was never more active. Thousands of socie- 
ties are at work extending relief to the distressed and doing what 
they can, in a commendable way; yet what is done altogether but 
little more than touches the shore of the great ocean of misery in 
which struggle a multitude of those who have stumbled and fallen 
iii the hard battle of life. The "submerged tenth," as so sugges- 
tively referred to by the students of social science, constantly ap- 
peals for sympathy and help. And all the while, the evil genius 
which preys upon mankind's weakness and necessity, the liquor 
traffic, is busily at work with relentless cruelty, adding to the num- 
ber of unfortunates, dragging down fresh victims and rejoicing 
with the spirit of a fiend over the wreck and ruin spread before the 
eyes of mankind. 

The work of rescue and reformation. 

The church in general, it must candidly be said, has not seemed 
to realize the solemn obligation under which it rests with regard 
to this important matter. Here and there exceptions to this rule 
may be found, but most of the work that is done is the voluntary 
and often unrequited labor, so far as this world is concerned, of 
special mission societies, and bands of noble and self-sacrificing 
men and women, who go down into these fearful depths, carrying 
with them the message of love and sympathy and administering 
practical aid to the body as well as the soul, illustrating in their 
lives the spirit of the Man of Gallilee. Pitiful, indeed, are the 
stories told by these humble laborers in a field that is most press- 
ing, yet ever widening and deepening and into which only very few 
have the courage to enter. It is soon discovered that there are 
countless families which were not always the victims of such sore 
trial. There are evidences of better days and the heart quickly 
opens, the tongue is unloosed and the tale of sickness, hardship 



■/ 



._ 




I2 3 

and rapid descent into the "slums" — cruel word and bitter reflec- 
tion upon American civilization — is unfolded. 

The one thought most pressing in the minds of stranded par- 
ents, often utterly hopeless as to their future, concerns the welfare 
of their little ones, and of older boys and girls, held fast by the 
iron hand of fate, amidst surroundings and temptations which can 
scarcely be conceived, much less described. The work of rescue 
itself brings added trials, causes new heartaches, and increases the 
loneliness and desolation consequent upon helpless poverty. Every 
year thousands of unfortunate children are removed to pleasant 
and healthful surroundings and the change which nearly always 
follows is marvelous. Let us go for a little while to the green 
hills amid which are located a model institution for the reforma- 
tion of wayward youth. Look into the faces of these seven hun- 
dred boys, from eight to sixteen years of age, and remember that 
every one of them is for the time virtually a prisoner of the state. 
Your heart will be deeply touched and you will be unable to under- 
stand how so many bright-faced, honest-looking, earnest minded 
and cheery lads could have been declared by a calm judicial tri- 
bunal, "incorrigible." Your sympathies will be intensely aroused 
and you will hotly resent such a charge. You instinctively feel — 
and you are right every time — that those before you have not had 
a fair chance in the earlier struggle of life; that in many cases they 
surely have been more sinned against than sinning; that they have 
been the victims of unjust and often harsh environment, and that 
the same is doubtless true of the girls, detained in their department 
of the House of Refuge, in the great city not far away. 

The true spirit of Christian helpfulness. 

The more carefully you look into this matter, the more you are 
convinced that there is something radically wrong and that so- 
ciety is under a tremendous responsibility in this connection; that 
it must be up and doing, for the rescue of those in peril; that it 
must extend a helping hand more promptly, more intelligently, 
more generously, more effectively. Investigation will disclose 
many touching things. You learn that these boys came here in 
distressful and rebellious condition. You now see them under 
the complete control of gentle women and noble-hearted men. 
You observe their daily life. You talk with those who* have them 
in charge, and marvel at the manifestation of close and kindly re- 



I2 4 

lationship. You see them in their cottage homes, amidst beauti- 
ful and inspiring surroundings, trained in the ways of sobriety and 
true religion. You watch them at their evening devotions. You 
cannot comprehend such an extraordinary transformation. They 
recite you a Psalm in concert and sing you a good-night song. 
They seek to press your hand and look earnestly for some special 
manifestation of your sympathetic interest. You turn away with 
moistened eyes and new revelations of the height, depth, length 
and breadth of the spirit of true Christianity; with new concep- 
tions of its wonderful power in controlling the human heart and 
mind, the destinies of humanity, for time and eternity. 

Later you look into the working of relief societies. You dis- 
cover how immense is the field, how urgent the call, how great 
the suffering, how comparatively few the laborers. Yen see a new 
world and long to do your part in lifting the burdens that press so- 
heavily upon shoulders unable to bear them. Rural residents in 
the neighborhood of some of our cities every summer witness the 
wonderful benefit derived from the weekly outings of the children 
of the poor, transferred for a few brief hours from the alley, the 
garret, and the dismal home, to the atmosphere of what is to them 
for the time being an earthly paradise. They breathe pure air, 
look upon green fields, beautiful flowers, and the happy surround- 
ings which make up the measure of existence of those so different- 
ly situated. How such a contrast must impress even these in- 
fantile minds. 

Upon one occasion my own little two-year-old, seated upon the 
arm of the big easy chair, discovered what he thought were some 
flowers in my necktie. Patting them gently and reaching forward, 
with the keenest interest, he expressed his delight in his childish 
way. "Flowers! flowers!" he said. To him it was all a happy 
reality. He loves nothing so much as flowers. When he came 
home from the sea-side, after many weeks absence, he ran around 
plucking here and there the remnants from the rose bushes which 
had withstood the long drought. He was heartily welcome to 
all the faded relics, for we had taken him away desperately ill, 
holding him, as it were, between earth and heaven, not knowing 
which way he would go, and were only too glad that the little feet 
could thus run about once more with renewed strength. The 
thought of the thousands of little ones who know nothing of such 
pleasures came forcibly to mind. There are, indeed, many who 



i 2 5 

never see such beautiful and inspiring things, who never breathe 
healthful atmosphere, whose whole young lives are spent in dark 
and noisome surroundings. Yet think not that there is not latent 
within them the love of nature and the uplifting desire to enjoy the 
bounty of heaven. A little Arab was given a lily by a street mis- 
sionary. Fondling it, he suggestively observed, in his quaint yet 
touching language, as he sat beneath the piano in the society's 
rooms: "The music in that flower tickles my nose." 

" Go thou and do likewise." 

You must see this nether side of life to understand how a good 
portion of humanity, even in this enlightened age and through- 
out our Christian land, live. In their humble homes, in the prison 
house, in the reformatory and the poor house, it has been my privi- 
lege and my duty to meet them, to study their ways, to talk with 
them and to ask them to unite in humble prayer for mutual for- 
giveness, mercy and strength. And the answer which comes even 
from behind barred doors, where none can be seen, but where all 
can hear, would touch a heart of stone. All is not lost. The 
spark of spiritual life remains. All that is needed to fan it into a 
flame is the reflection of the spirit embodied in the wonderful 
words first heard by the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem: 
"On earth peace; good will towards men." The chastened spirit 
is ever present amongst those whom we are disposed to call the vic- 
ious classes, when the hand of the law has been laid upon them. 

And these unfortunates seldom retain any vindictive feelings 
even towards those whose official duty it has been to execute the 
mandate of the commonwealth. Judges are frequently called 
upon by men fresh from prison, whom they sentenced, to ask ad- 
vice and a little help over a hard place. And everywhere through- 
out this dark arena of extreme poverty and neglect, and even 
amidst many whose companions are deeply stained with wrong- 
doing, there prevails the supreme desire for better things. It is 
their misfortune nearly always, and seldom their censurable fault, 
that they are where they are and subject to the influences which 
surround them. Many pitiful scenes are to be noticed and many 
incidents occur which reveal the depth of suffering endured and 
mightily show society's dereliction and the heavy burdens which 
should be laid upon the consciences of all who can do something 
in the work of rescue and salvation. 



P9 



126 

A fresh-air excursion was about to leave the wharf in New York, 
when a poor, sorrowful-looking woman, bearing in her arms a 
child, apparently sick unto death, appeared. A physician stand- 
ing by, taking a professional glance at the babe, said to the mother 
that it was beyond the reach of human aid, and advised her to re- 
turn home with her dying burden. The woman protested and pit- 
eously begged that she might be allowed to go on the boat. Her 
request was granted. In a little while the stricken child revived, 
and with wonderful quickness, secured a new lease upon life, being 
snatched, as it were, from the very jaws of death. Referring to 
this touching incident, a newspaper of the time indulged in a curi- 
ous speculation as to whether it really was a fortunate thing for 
the "child of the slums" that its life was saved; whether it would 
not have been better, in the end, if it had not been called back from 
the portals of Eternity. It further remarked: 

What will posterity think of this? 

"The prospects of the poor are not pleasing to either men or 
women. Supposing the child was a boy, we cannot resist the con- 
clusion that youth will find him corrupted, young manhood a 
criminal, later years a convict. The very poor are becoming more 
numerous, their conditions and surroundings grow more and more 
loathsome; immorality, depravity and crime are the inevitable con- 
sequences. If it was a girl, her outlook upon approaching woman- 
hood is even darker. She may go the natural course of abandon- 
ment and shame to an early death ; or, scarcely less happy, she may 
struggle along through a virtuous but horrible existence, rinding 
no reward for her purity, no response to her noble principles, no 
incentive to continue the difficult fight. In any case, our little 
pilgrim has probably started on a woeful journey." 

This extraordinary utterance, from the editorial columns of a 
conservative journal, which, in all things pertaining to public 
affairs and social questions, speaks for an intelligent, wealthy and 
Christian community ! Surely the historian of the time, when he 
comes across such comment as this, will deeply ponder upon the 
state of civilization and society which existed in the most popu- 
lous centres of the new Republic, at the close of the nineteenth 
century. Taken separately and analyzed, the cold-blooded com- 
ments of our contemporary upon this incident of every-day life in 
American cities to-day surely presents most startling thoughts 



127 

to every citizen. Who can answer these questions hopefully, so 
far as a very large proportion of the class referred to is concerned? 
It is a dark and terrible picture, but it is the very truth itself, and 
it is high time the people of this country were squarely facing it. 
It presents a problem of momentous character, one fraught with 
consequences of infinite importance to society, the nation and 
mankind. We cannot, we must not, go on in this horrible way. 
There must be a halt. This question must be taken up and the 
grave duties growing out of it assumed with courage, intelligence 
and fidelity, by those who have it in their power to ameliorate the 
conditions of these helpless people, and to prevent the demoraliza- 
ing outflow that is now spreading itself throughout our great cities 
and over the land. 

It is cause for profound gratitude and the heartiest commenda- 
tion that here and there noble-minded men are giving this sub- 
ject practical attention, and the manner in which all such projects 
for the relief of these dark places is received by the public ought 
to stir up many more to quick and effective action in the same 
direction. There should be a united movement to rescue from 
poverty, wretchedness, ignorance and crime a multitude of boys 
and girls who have the highest claim, that of helpless humanity, 
struggling amidst environments where, without aid, very many of 
them must fall by the wayside. Let the good work go on. Let 
our men of great wealth, so numerous and abundantly able to meet 
this obligation, realize their opportunity and their duty. Help 
these people! Reach out the hand and save them, for their own 
sake, for the sake of the nation, for the sake of mankind. "Blessed 
is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time 
of trouble." 





128 



XV. 

The Sunday question is in many respects the greatest ques- 
tion before the American people — Millions of workmen 
and workwomen have no Sunday to call their own." 

THE social unrest of the time is nowhere so strik- 
ingly manifest as amongst what are termed the 
working classes — a misnomer in this, land, where 
every man and woman, with sound mind and 
body, should be enrolled with those who labor, 
with head or hand. Remarkable changes have 
occurred within a comparatively short period, and he is a poor 
observer who cannot perceive to a great extent the cause as well 
as the ominous effects. A little while ago the humblest homes in 
every community were almost uniformly the abode of honest pov- 
erty and reasonable content. Many comforts were unknown, but 
there was little disposition to quarrel with fate, and scarcely any 
murmuring against those who had been more highly favored. In 
ordinary times there was work for all willing hands, in town or 
country. None need go hungry or shelterless. 

Above all, there was one day in seven which was never tres- 
passed upon. This was sacredly set apart for rest, for man and 
beast. Spindles remained silent and but few car wheels turned. 
There w T as a solemn hush throughout the land, which was the 
greatest blessing that could be vouchsafed to mankind. Such a 
think as Sunday work, or Sunday play, excursions, picnic parties 
and general interchange of social hospitality, was almost unknown. 
In any American city one could stand at the corners of the leading 
streets, and as far as the eye could reach would scarcely see any 
person engaged in ordinary week-day toil. The church bells rang 
out their songs of welcome and worshippers thronged the sanctu- 
ary twice a day, whilst those who did not thus make public ac- 
knowledgement of divine mercies, united in paying the most pro- 
found respect to the laws of God and the laws of the state. 

The benefit accruing from this periodical respite from the cares, 
the worries, and the burdens of daily life can never be estimated. 
Manv serious diseases of our time were unknown. The medical 



129 

fraternity did not have to rack their brains inventing alleged cure- 
alls for the peculiar maladies which to-day afflict humanity. Such 
a thing as "nervous prostration" was almost unknown, except 
among weaklings and the reckless victims of vicious bodily habits. 
The drug-store counter, around the soda-water fountain, was not 
crowded with all kinds of quack inventions for stimulating over- 
wearied brains, wornout stomachs, crushed hearts, and broken- 
down limbs. Men, and women, too, worked when work was to be 
done earnestly, but with self-control. Labor was a duty and a 
pleasure as well as profit. Sleep came naturally and refresh- 
ingly. It was not needful to administer heroic doses of strong and 
perilous drugs to kill the senses and bring lasting injury to the 
wretched victim of insomnia. 

The rights of all were recognized. 

Society did not turn day into night, and night into day. At a 
reasonable hour the streets were deserted, and in one important 
respect town life and country life bore a striking resemblance. A 
light was not to be seen in every house, to enable timid persons to 
sleep in safety. All was darkness and silence, within as well as 
without. There was no place so strangely lonesome as a city at 
1 1 o'clock at night, one hour after respectable bed time. The in- 
tense strain of our modern life was unknown. The fierce avari- 
ciousness which to-day takes no account of flesh and blood, which 
is only intent upon one thing, and that the accumulation of gain, 
regardless of consequences to humanity, had not yet been experi- 
enced. 

Men and women of all classes had inalienable rights which those 
of every other class readily and fully recognized and respected. 
When the hour of rest came it was not intruded upon. Men might 
work as hard as they pleased six days in the week, but when Sat-? 
urday night came, the straps were unbuckled, the garments of toil 
laid aside, and there was peace and rest, of mind and body, for a 
period of thirty-six hours at least. Even the corner-grocery man 
was regarded as a human creature, with human needs and limita- 
tions. He was not compelled to keep his place of business open 
until midnight on Saturday, and anyone who would have sug- 
gested that in addition he should serve a selfish public and com- 
pel his employees to do the same, half of Sunday, would have been 
looked upon as an enemy of the human race. Bakers and con- 



i 3 o 

fectioners also were allowed their rights without question. The 
man who could not eat cold bread on Sunday morning could go 
hungry, and there was no imperative demand for sweet-meats, ice 
cream, "soft" drinks, etc., all day Sunday. 

In every possible way, and in accordance with the letter and spir- 
it of the simple and just enactments of the founders of the state, 
general respect was paid to the day of rest and its beneficent pur- 
poses. There was no such thing as a Sunday question in any en- 
lightened portion of this great country. Even during the civil 
war, when the life of the nation was at stake, a special order was 
issued by President Lincoln, enjoining respect for the Sabbath, 
and commanding officers in the field to require the least possible 
activity on the part of those under their charge, while all opera- 
tions in the rear, such as making roads, building forts, etc., were 
suspended; an example which our rulers of to-day would do well 
to remember and follow. 

A question of self-preservation. 

To day the Sunday question is, in many essential respects, the 
greatest question before the American people, and it is high time 
this fact was fully realized by thoughtful and patriotic men every- 
where and this entirely aside from any religious views, or respect 
for the day of rest as a divine institution. The problem is one 
simply of self-preservation, and in that light it confronts over-bur- 
dened, over-strained, over-wearied humanity. Not only in all 
populous communities, but in towns of moderate size, in villages, 
and throughout many rural sections, there has been a change of 
national habit of a most portentous character. Millions of Ameri- 
can workmen and workwomen now have no Sunday to call their 
own. Very many are compelled to labor more or less nearly 
every Sunday in the year, while with others the brief respite dur- 
ing a few months is more than made up for by the severe pressure 
of the recreation season, when they must perform double duty, 
often day and night. 

The latest startling innovation of this character has occurred 
in the great Iron City of this country. With all-consuming sel- 
fishness and ruinous greed for gain, which ignores the rights of 
humanity, tramples upon the law of the state and despises the law 
of God and the physical needs of mankind, a number of the iron 
masters of Pittsburg, controlling many of the largest mills, have 



T 3i 

recently determined upon Sunday work and ordered their helpless 
employes to report for duty on that day as on all others. This is 
the fatal step which has been feared by close observers. It is the 
last and worst blow at American labor which has been struck and 
the effect cannot but be deplorable upon all concerned. In all 
cur great cities a vast number of people are deprived of the liberty 
to rest on Sunday, of the control of their own time, while their 
selfish masters take their ease. For this great army of Sunday 
workers there is no "day of rest and gladness; day of light and 
joy." It is a weary round of burdensome toil, crushing its vic- 
tims, shortening their lives and bringing unhappiness to a multi- 
tude of humble homes. 

In some sections this revolutionary change has made the most 
alarming headway. In the leading Western cities nearly all lines 
of mercantile trade are in operation during part or all of Sunday. 
In Chicago 5000 store clerks vainly appealed to city councils for 
a special law guaranteeing them their Sunday after 10 A. M. 
But even this request was denied. The ordinance was passed, 
but vetoed by the executive, in obedience to the selfish demands 
of poltical supporters, who desired to make themselves solid with 
a class able and willing in return to furnish large campaign con- 
tributions. Places of amusement, in-doors and out, are conducted 
seven days in the week, despite the most earnest protests of play- 
ers, who are thus compelled to burn the candle at both ends and 
to wear themselves out prematurely. They are driven along help- 
lessly, compelled to yield to the demands of employers, who, in 
turn, plausibly claim that they are only complying with a selfish 
but imperious public demand. The movement lately inaugu- 
rated by the journeyman bakers is highly significant. Working- 
men should realize that no matter what the measure of their com- 
plaint against the Church and its alleged exclusiveness and for- 
getfulness, they must rally to the defense of their right to lay down- 
their instruments of toil one day in the week, and that in such an 
effort they must have the support of those who have learned to 
regard the rights of humanity. 

As men and nations sow they surely reap 

It is from this standpoint that the Sunday question is to-day 
being so earnestly considered. The general demoralizing effects 
of an imitation of Continental methods of reckless and exhausting 



132 

pleasure seeking on the day of rest are everywhere observable, 
and in many communities public sentiment is being awakened 
on this subject. It is not a crusade for the revival of the exag- 
gerated severities of the Puritan Sunday, in which earnest-minded 
men and women are becoming enlisted, but a movement to pre- 
serve to every man and every woman and every child, required to 
work, the right to needful bodily rest and refreshment. Good 
citizens everywhere should unite to prevent the breaking down 
of the barriers which protect labor from trespass upon its inalien- 
able rights. They should likewise recognize the danger of per- 
mitting statutes to be trampled upon at the instance of those who 
care nothing for others. The Republic rests upon the recognition 
and mantenance of equal rights, supreme respect for the law and 
justice to humanity. The Sunday question, therefore, now comes 
as a personal matter for every citizen to deal with in the light of 
his own conscience and according to his duty to his fellow-men. 
Moreover, he has an abiding interest in those who are to come 
after him. His children and his children's children are factors 
to be remembered. He cannot dismiss all consideration for them 
without forfeiting all claim to the respect of mankind and ignoring 
his own self-respect as well. 

One thing the writer has observed from his youth, namely, that 
God never looks with patience or tolerance upon the needless and 
defiant violation of the sanctity of His day. He only asks one in 
seven. If we do not give Him that He deals with us according 
to our sin and according to our folly. Sunday business does not 
pay, either an individual, a community or a nation. Sunday law- 
lessness will bring punishment, sooner or later, and the time will 
come when this tremendous fact will burn its way into the stubborn 
minds of those who now refuse to recognize it. Throughout thisi 
great land the spirit of evil is reigning as never before. The na- 
tion will soon forget its God after it has forgotten His Sabbath. 
The intelligent and patriotic citizen should tremble for his country 
when he thinks of these things. And at this critical hour, when 
divine guidance, protection and help should be desired and im- 
plored above all things; when this great nation should as one 
man be upon its knees, asking deliverance from peril, there is opeit 
disregard of the sanctity of the Lord's Day even by those in 
highest authority, who thus set a most demoralizing personal ex- 
ample to the people, and who also keep thousands of men at work 



^33 

preparing the engines of destruction and death. This needless 
trespass upon the day of rest and worship, this impious defiance 
of the God of nations, will surely bring its own personal and na- 
tional punishment. 

"Business enterprises and the 5abbath." 

By special invitation, Edwin K. Hart addressed the National 
Reform Convention, at Baltimore, December 12, 1895, upon 
"Business Enterprises and the Sabbath." He said: 

Within the past few years there has arisen before the American 
people a question of the first magnitude. It is simply: Shall the 
Christian Sabbath be maintained; or shall it be virtually abolished? 
It is time the startling and painful facts were fully recognized and 
soberly considered. The pendulum is swinging with tremendous 
force, increasing from year to year and carrying with it multitudes 
of helpless victims who have thus been deprived of their day of 
rest. The sophistry of the times has blinded the minds of a vast 
number of our most worthy, intelligent and patriotic people. 
Even among Christians there is lack of discernment, mistaken 
views, weakness, vacillation and fatal error to an alarming degree. 
The ministry, to a great extent, is seemingly paralyzed. Many 
watchmen on the walls of Zion have unconsciously betrayed their 
high trust. They, too, are drifting with the tide, dull of vision, 
timid, and if not indifferent, at least inefficient. In private con- 
versation this class of public leaders — and they are always looked 
upon in that responsible light by those under their charge, whether 
they wish to be so considered or not — earnestly deplore the great- 
est evil of the time, Sabbath secularization and desecration; public- 
ly, their lamentable and ruinous silence is a confession of apostasy 
such as the world has never before seen. A large proportion of- 
this distinguished assemblage is composed of those holding the 
divine commission. How many within the past year have faith- 
fully proclaimed the truth concerning this pressing matter, from 
their pulpits and in the homes of their people? And if, perchance, 
this goodly company, individually and collectively, have per- 
formed their whole duty, how has it been within the larger minis- 
terial circle throughout the country? In my own city of Brotherly 
Love a personal appeal was made by the Ministerial Union, for 
special sermons upon this subject. Out of over four hundred 
pastors thus addressed not more than fifty responded; only ten 



134 

per cent. Where were the remaining ninety? It was urged that 
timely and effective literature, intended to waken the public mind, 
be widely distributed. This suggestion was responded to in the 
same unsatisfactory and significant manner. 

The reign of lawlessness. 

It seems to be a reflection upon the intelligence of well-informed 
men to speak in detail of the situation as it is to-day over a large 
part of our beloved land, so highly favored, so richly blessed, once 
the scene everywhere of Sabbath peace, quiet and reverence, and 
always resting under such a weight of responsibility. On every 
hand we see men openly trampling upon God's law, scorning his 
commands and defying his judgments, and setting at naught also 
the statutes of the commonwealth. Almost everywhere, in town 
and country, throughout more than half the states in the Union 
the Christian Sabbath is trespassed upon with an increasing reck- 
lessness which should make thoughtful citizens tremble for the 
future, when they remember that God is not mocked; that He is 
just; that His judgments are true and righteous altogether, and as 
unerring as the rising" and setting of the sun. Until our time 
reputable and ordinarily law-abiding American citizens did not 
presume to set business enterprise and worldly pleasure seeking 
over against the Sabbath and the civil statutes intended to guard 
it from unhallowed trespass. The public conscience has been 
blunted by the love of gain and the love of pleasure. 

This twin evil is responsible for the present demoralizing state 
of affairs. Secular business is conducted seven days in the week 
for the sole purpose of making more money than can be made in 
six. Sunday saloons, theatres, concert halls, baseball games, horse 
races, excursions, newspapers and many other kinds of attrac- 
tions are patronized by the thoughtless multitude, intent upon 
promoting their own worldly pleasure, regardless of the effect 
iipon those who are thus forced to surrender their God-given an$ 
state-guaranteed day of rest. It is the essence of short-sighted 
selfishness, even from the standpoint of those who have no regard 
for the divine law and no respect for the command of the state. 
Fully nine-tenths of those participating in this violation of the 
Sabbath are liable, directly or indirectly, sooner or later, to suffer 
from the breaking down of the barriers which protect honest labor 
from cruel serfdom. In the near future countless thousands of 



J 35 

young women, compelled to work on the Sabbath, will sadly re- 
flect upon the amazing folly of their parents, who are now helping 
to forge the chains which will embitter the lives of their children: 
The sins of the fathers and of the mothers will surely be visited 
upon their helpless offspring. 

Let us rejoice that intelligent work people are beginning to see 
the impending danger and to vigorously cry out against it. More 
strength to their effort to escape being overwhelmed in this de- 
structive flood! God help them all to see the truth and- to strike 
hard and fast and effectively for the preservation of their indus- 
trial freedom. Their united effort in self-defense is my greatest 
hope. Let us have an organized protest against needless Sunday 
labor that will arouse the nation to a sense of its duty; that will 
awaken a lethargic church; that will appeal mightily and con- 
vincingly to every conscienceless employer; that will save the 
already over-worked men and women of to-day; that will insure 
to those who come after them the greatest boon weary and strug- 
gling humanity has ever known, one day in every week when the 
stern summons to secular toil is never heard; when mind and body 
may find peaceful rest and renewed strength for the battle of life. 

Sweeping away the foundations. 

Let us not be lulled into false security through the cunning 
wiles of the enemy. The evil grows with each passing hour. A 
little while ago it was chiefly confined to public highways of 
transportation and sundry unimportant lines of trade. Look 
around you and see the advancing tide. In some western cities 
there has been almost complete surrender to the "Continental 
Sunday," with its baleful influences and surroundings. In Phil- 
adelphia thousands of business places are now needlessly open all 
or part of the Sabbath. It is the same in New York, Brooklyn, 
Boston and almost every northern city. The rural regions are 
not free from the demoralizing change. And everywhere the rul- 
ing classes are to blame. It is men who conduct many of our 
great enterprises, who control affairs in the commercial, political, 
professional, social and even religious world who either look on 
indifferently or directly profit pecuniarily through this disregard 
of the Sabbath and its just claims upon mankind. 

The press, which should be the bulwark of American institu- 
tions, is also responsible to a most grievous and discreditable ex- 



i36 

tent, through its misguided alliance with Sunday newspapers. 
These journals, read by the teeming millions, are setting a terrible 
example of lawlessness. They are sowing to the wind and their 
misled readers will reap the whirlwind. These publications could 
all be issued on Saturday night, their contents being made meas- 
urably fit for popular reading on Sabbath afternoon. They are 
flung out like snowflakes that cover the face of the earth, in defi- 
ance of the laws of God and man. And so-called Christians sus- 
tain, apologize for and defend them. Is it any wonder the spirit 
of revivalism is almost unknown? The Church in many places 
is beating the air, vainly over and over again counting its incon- 
sistent and cold-hearted members, mumbling its shibboleth and 
going through a dumb show in temples of blue and gold, while 
the youth of the land are being led astray, while the masses refuse 
to listen, and while wandering millions are going the broad road 
to everlasting destruction. 

National unity for national safety. 

It is a happy omen that we meet on the lines that once marked 
the distressful and almost fatal division of the two great sections 
of our common country. The fact must frankly and fully be recog- 
nized that in the Southern States there is more general respect for 
the Lord's day than anywhere else. That anchor, let us be pro- 
foundly thankful, still holds, and may it never be loosened. A 
little while ago all was strife, darkness and tribulation. The light 
has come again and peace reigns. There is prosperity where there 
was desolation. There is reconciliation, union and fraternity 
where there was enmity and bitterness. Thirty and one years 
ago, as a mere lad, it was my lot to march three times through 
the streets of this beautiful and enterprising city. The only starry 
flag visible at all times was on Fort Federal Hill. There were no 
huzzas of welcome. No friendly greeting was extended. All 
day, one sultry July Sabbath, we lay under the frowning guns oi 
the fort, hungry and weary, without so much as a cup of cold 
water being offered to us. At night we wended our way wearily 
to the neighboring woodland and slept beneath the stars, with 
none to offer shelter or comfort. Ah, we were then, indeed, aliens 
and enemies! We rejoice that it is not so to-day. The dark 
clouds have passed forever. The inspiration of true patriotisnJ 
has w r armed our spirits in a reunion of hearts and of heads and of 



137 

hands none can sever. We exult in a common prosperity and a 
common destiny. 

Let us have a genuine revival of true Puritanism. From this 
influential assemblage there should go forth a thrilling call to 
Christians, patriots and friends of humanity everywhere, to rally 
to the defense of the most beneficent institution the nation has to 
maintain — a Christian Sabbath. The rich heritage of the fathers 
must be preserved. Their lofty example must be followed. Let 
us acquit ourselves like true sons of freedom. Let us humbly but 
earnestly seek divine guidance and help in rescuing and maintain- 
ing the Sabbath. Its preservation as a day of rest is the one 
guarantee to the American working-man of freedom ; its preserva- 
tion as a day of worship is the one guarantee of the Church and is 
essential to the progress and maintenance of Christianity. When 
the Christian Sabbath goes, everything goes. You cannot break 
it in two without breaking it altogether. It is at once the corner- 
stone, the keystone and the capstone in the temple of American 
liberty and self-government. 

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy 
pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the Holy 
of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own 
ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own 
words ; 

"Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause 
thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with 
the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath 
spoken it." 

"The Sabbath was made for man." 




138 



XVI. 



"The highest and best aspirations of our young people are 
centered in their loyalty to Christian truth"— <« Thy 
Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my 
path. ,, 




IF there is one dominant characteristic 
of young America at the close of the 
nineteenth century it is over self-con- 
fidence. The educational methods 
and social practices of the time are in 
great measure responsible for the ab- 
normal development of this national 
trait. The plant is set very early and 
it is forced all the way along the first 
stage of life. Parents vie with each 
other in showing the smartness of their children, and teachers, 
alike in public and private schools, have come to believe that upon 
the measure of their success in pushing the pupil depends their 
own material welfare. The cramming process, therefore, begins 
before the mind is fairly formed, while the brain is only half de- 
veloped. In the end, there is frequently disappointment. When 
the serious work of life is undertaken it is seen that the founda- 
tions must largely be relaid. Many things have been attempted; 
nothing fully accomplished. Graduation only marks the begin- 
ning of real tasks. It would be far better in each case to take 
more time, to build more slowly but surely. Yet the mere mat- 
ter of going through the text books is, after all, but entering 
the gateway of knowledge. Beyond lies the great world of inves- 
tigation and thought, the arena in which the opening and ripening 
mind may revel and grow strong; or wherein it may turn aside 
and be forever undone, through listening to the siren song of the 
patronesses of weak and vicious literature. 

If young people knew how many traps are set for them and 
could realize how insidiously their ruin is sought, they surely 
would exercise more watchfulness and more moral courage at the 
most critical period of their lives. Ordinarily, it is quite as easy 



139 

to acquire a taste for intellectual recreation which improves and 
strengthens, purines and elevates, as the reverse. It is almost 
entirely a matter of habit. Let the mind once give way to the 
temptation to spend leisure hours in evil, or even doubtful com- 
p< ny, whether of books or men and women, and each association 
will carry its victim farther from the safe ground. The insatiate 
novel reader is unfitted for enjoying anything else, and the lin- 
gering effect of such impressions is often most injurious. Through 
imbibing false views of life and its duties the mind is irreparably 
injured. It requires more effort to concentrate thought upon other 
and better things. Study hours and working hours are involun- 
tarily intruded upon by visions of maudlin heroes and heroines. 
The youthful sympathies are wrought upon and the whole mental 
and moral nature is demoralized. The legitimate pleasures and 
privileges of social life are trespassed upon and in great measure 
sacrificed. Many precious hours are spent alone, with feverish 
head and throbbing heart, when healthful companionship would 
produce far different results. 

The danger of bad books and bad company. 

The amount and variety of the kind of reading here referred to 
thrown in the way of our unsuspecting boys and girls and young 
men and maidens surpasses belief. Nine-tenths of the so-called 
romances of the hour are the veriest trash; the wretched product 
of immature or perverted minds. To read them is to compel the 
brain to entertain guests that bring an atmosphere of contagion 
that darkens the life and taints the soul. Bad books are every- 
where and mischievous company for the young awaits their com- 
ing at every turn. "Buy the truth and sell it not." It is passing 
strange that there is so much parental neglect concerning this 
matter of supreme importance to the young and to society. It 
becomes the duty, therefore, of the young people to exercise vigi- 
lance on their own behalf. Let them avoid association at all times 
with those of careless ways, in speech or act. Let them resolve 
to keep the enemies of their moral welfare at a safe distance. 
Countless are the disguises in which they will be approached, by 
day and by night, while at school and when at work. Into their 
ears will be dropped seemingly harmless suggestions, but which, 
if followed out, mean their destruction. 

Nothing more rapidly contributes to increase the number of 



140 

wayward youth, of both sexes, than chance acquaintances, the 
result of accidental meeting, often with fascinating persons, on 
the streets, in public conveyances, when on vacations, excursions 
to the country or seaside, etc. The only safe way is to keep every 
stranger at arm's length, until he or she proves good character and 
honorable purposes. This is a matter which some young people 
most unwisely regard as of little account. Therein they make a 
serious and often fatal mistake. The scheming agents of evil re- 
sorts are always looking for easy prey. Thousands of bright and 
pure young women have thus been led into the ways of iniquity, 
never to recall their erring footsteps, and multitudes of young men 
have likewise been carried captive by smooth-tongued villains in 
faultlss attire through cunning methods. The cohorts of sin make 
use of their privilege of absolute freedom every day and every 
hour. "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." 

The only pathway of safety. 

With regard to public amusements, in a few and pointed words, 
let. this be said: No play which contains one line, or one word, 
which cannot be repeated, or one scene which cannot be described, 
in the purest home circle, is fit for youthful entertainment, and 
should no more be patronized by right-minded persons of ma- 
ture age. Apply this rule of exclusion to the average theatre of 
to-day and behold the result. Playwrights, the press and theat- 
rical managers are jointly to blame in great part for this current 
indictment of the modern drama. United they could bring about 
reform, which was never more .greatly needed than at this time. 
Self-respecting actors and actresses should set their faces against 
the prevailing low tone of theatrical productions. This is their 
high privilege and their bounden duty. The public weakly sub- 
mits to a flood of half-concealed vileness. It would not be so if the 
leaders of what calls itself "society" would do their duty, would 
realize their obligations to the young, as well as themselves. The 
toleration of impure suggestion upon the stage is a burning dis- 
grace to the boasted enlightenment and refinement of our times. 
Purity of thought is the only safeguard against evil speech and 
debasing actions. Why do so many otherwise genteel and right- 
spirited young men permit themselves to fall into habits of con- 
versation with each other whicn they would not dare pursue in 
the presence of their mothers, sisters and young lady friends? 



141 

Yes, this is a close question, but it is high time it was pressed home. 
Every young man of the period knows how widespread is the un- 
manly, obnoxious and corrupting practice here referred to. It has 
become an almost universal habit; the more's the pity, the more's 
the shame. It inevitably leads to coarseness and vulgarity and 
opens the way to easy familiarity with vice. Avoid it, as you 
would contamination of the basest kind. Keep your lips clean 
if you would keep your heart right. Defile not the temple of 
true manliness. Let your speech be free from even a suggestion 
of evil doing. Make it a rule, steadfastly adhered to, never to 
say anything, nor listen to anything, that cannot be repeated in 
your own home, in the presence of the best friend you have on 
earth — your mother. Do not sneer, young man. Do not talk 
flippantly about apron strings. When you are too reckless and 
hardened to- confide in your mother you are on the high road to 
ruin. This has been the sad experience of a vast number who 
have made shipwreck of life. Have a care. Stop and think, 
whether these are not the words of truth and soberness; of true 
wisdom and sincere friendship. "Keep thy tongue from evil, 
and thy lips from speaking guile." "Thy word is a lamp unto 
my feet and a light unto my path." 

A clear head, clean lips, and honest heart. 

Surely no one will contend that the free use of intoxicating 
■drinks is a privilege in which any young man — much less any 
young woman — should indulge. Why not be on the safe side? 
There is only one rule to guide you clear of the peril which so 
many have encountered to their everlasting sorrow. The drink 
habit is easily formed; it is the hardest chain to break that the 
arch enemy of human happiness ever forged. Do not listen to 
the sophistries of the tempter. Be your own judge. You know 
that you not only do not need any such so-called and always de- 
ceptive stimulant; in your own short life you have many times, 
within the circle of your own acquaintance, seen its terrible ef- 
fects. Many of you have suffered in consequence of the weakness* 
of your own flesh and blood. You have bitter memories of sad 
hours and lasting family disgrace. Why take the chances in your 
own case? Why not resolutely say: "I will not touch it"? 

If this is your unfaltering habit, you can turn aside the tempter 
with ease. Even drinking men will more highly respect you. 



142 

They will not urge you to break such a wise resolution. On the 
contrary, they will often frankly commend you and pitifully declare 
that if they had taken that course it would have been well for them. 
"How old is he?" tremulously asked a poor victim of the alcoholic 
habit, referring to another who was being labored with. Upon 
being answered, himself only forty, the tottering wreck exclaimed, 
iij despair: "He may stop. He may escape! As for me — there 
is no hope!" Think of it! The way to stop is never to begin. 
Keep a clear head, clean lips, an honest and courageous heart and 
push on and all will be well. 

One more word, as to destroying personal habits. The 
young man who, as he often exclaims, is "dying for a smoke," 
because he has been deprived of his cigarette or pipe for an hour 
or two, is dying, indeed, though he may not know it. Look at 
his pallid face, his thin lips; see his shaking hands; observe his 
restlessness. He knows nothing of ease. He is tormented every 
day of his life as the result of acquiring a habit which is fast work- 
ing his physical ruin. Tobacco in any form is almost as inimical 
to the physical welfare of young men as liquor, and especially in 
its terrible effects upon the over-wrought nerves of growing 
youth. What is to be the fate of these silly creatures? Millions 
of them already confirmed smokers before they are half way 
through their teens. Before they reach the age of thirty — and 
many will never see twenty-five — they will be utter wrecks. This 
is not mere supposition, or the idle theory of one who knows 
nothing of what he speaks. It is the sober conclusion of medical 
science the world over, borne out by overwhelming testimony. 
And the family physician who does not issue his most impressive 
warning wherever he goes upon this subject, is derelict with regard 
to one of the most important duties of his profession. The boy 
who resolves not to smoke at least until he is thirty years of age 
is reasonably safe. He will then not want to smoke. Let the 
coming generation of young men learn wisdom and self-control 
from the monumental folly of that which is passing. 

Some sober facts to consider. 

Remember, too, that the one debasing and disgraceful habit is 
almost inseperable from the other. Over seven hundred boys in 
a State Reformatory were asked to show, by holding up their 
hands, how manv had used tobacco before their rescue from evil 



143 

surroundings. Nearly every hand went up, as if by common im- 
pulse. They were also asked to show, in the same way, how many 
had used liquor of any kind. To the amazement even of the offi- 
cers of this model institution, from whom the facts had largely 
been concealed, through childish evasion and fear, as well as the 
spectators, five-sixths of the hands went up. And the average 
age of these victims of the twin habit of smoking and drinking, 
as opportunity offered, was about thirteen. Think of it! Avoid 
the one and you are fairly safe from the other. Indulge either one, 
and the chances are as ten to one, you will find yourself in a little 
while the slave of both. The insane asylums, the reformatories 
and penal institutions of this country will not be big enough to 
hold half the victims of physical, mental and moral ruin, caused 
by the present alarming extent of smoking and drinking amongst 
boys and young men and young women. The facts prove this; 
the frightful increase in nervous disorders, in vice and crime. 
As Professor Boies, before referred to, so forcibly puts it, the 
American nation of the future is threatened with a relapse into 
barbarism. 

In the world of business and industrial and professional activity 
young men find fields for the exercise of all their powers. The in- 
tense mental strain of the time calls for clear heads and thorough 
devotion to duty. Those who succeed discover no royal road to 
lead them on. Those who fall by the wayside belong to the class 
that refuses to be guided by the light of experience, declining to- 
receive friendly counsel. They do not realize how their way is 
blocked by careless habits and lack of attention to the duties as- 
signed. They fail to note how keen-eyed employers, always sel- 
fishly looking out for their own interests, decline to trust the 
young man who has no grip upon himself. They demand the* 
utmost sobriety and closely watch the personal ways of those who 
serve them. The enormous increase and the immeasurable re- 
sponsibilities of the transportation interests of the country have 
united to impress railway managers with the wisdom and the ne- 
cessity of adopting and enforcing regulations which practically 
enlist their immense forces in behalf of the home against the sa- 
loon. Young men cannot secure positions where they hold in 
their hands the lives of many people, without giving assurance that 
they are not addicted to the drink habit, while many older em- 
ployes have found it needful to place themselves under the same 



144 

charter of safety. Many other great corporations and business 
institutions, for purely selfish and material reasons, are likewise 
requiring those in their employ to lead sober as well as industrious 
lives. This is a phase of temperance reform which must have the 
most far-reaching and beneficent results. 

Finally, do young men, especially those who must make their 
own way in life, ever give a thought to the extent to which they 
rob themselves through these habits of needless self-indulgence? 
Tf the smokers and drinkers under thirty-five years of age make 
way w 7 ith only one-third of the total consumption of liquor and 
tobacco in the United States, they expend in this way every year 
two hundred and fifty million dollars. In ten years this amounts 
to two thousand five hundred million dollars, only two hundred 
million less than the national debt at the close of the civil war. 
What criminal waste of resources. What inexcusable folly. 
And to this must be added the enormous loss consequent upon the 
sacrifice of good positions, loss of business, the physical wreck 
and the unending misery which surely follow the victims of strong 
drink. 

The rulers of the future. 

A noted politician, who for a season masquerades as a states- 
man, in the arena once chiefly occupied by the nation's strongest 
and best leaders, has been giving some advice to young men con- 
cerning their civic duties. Like Patsey Bolivar, when he wishes 
some special help over a rough place along the public highway, 
this machine manager wants young men to take more interest in 
politics. It might be observed that there would be more room 
for young men in politics if some of the older men would get out 
and stay out, and, above all, take their peculiar ''business methods" 
out with them. It is declared that young men are the main reli- 
ance of the country. Just so; and in proportion to their main- 
taining an attitude of personal independence of professional politi- 
cal leaders and manipulators of machine politics, will they meet the 
requirements of their high destiny. The country greatly needs 
their services. There never was a time, indeed, when they were 
more urgently demanded; never a time, however, when they 
should be more intelligently exercised. There is a great field for 
young men in politics, but what they should do is not to take 
lessons from the professional politician of to-day, nor become the 



45 



blind slaves of partisanship. They should study all public ques- 
tions as citizens, not as partisans. Then they should exercise 
the right of citizenship in the way which, according to their best 
judgment, will promote the highest public good. This will not 
always be along one political line. The salvation of this Republic 
from the perils which beset it can only be wrought out by the 
independent voter who is thoroughly honest, intelligent and cour- 
ageous. 





An anchor that holds in every storm. 

The highest and best aspirations of our young people are cen- 
tred in their loyalty to Christian truth. That anchor holds when 
everything- else fails. What would the church do without them? 
The extraordinary movement of the past few years has put new life 
and vigor into Zion. It is, indeed, the hope of the church. 
There has been no conflict, no divided interests, working injury 
to the older religious organizations. On the contrary, these young 
people's societies have elevated the standard of life amongst mil- 
lions of the men and women of the future, those upon whose 
shoulders will rest in a little while the responsibilities of church 
work. The atmosphere which surrounds this movement is one 
of purity, safety and strength. There is an inspiration in num- 
bers and in association which young people always feel. The 
touching of elbows nerves the soldiers in battle, and the same 
spirit pervades this great army of the church, moving onward 
and upward beneath the white standard of King Emanuel. 

The former methods of revival in many churches have given way 
to ideas which seem to appeal more powerfully to those who listen 
to the Gospel message in our day, and along this line the Christian 
Endeavor, the Epworth League, the King's Daughters, the Young 
People's Union, the St. Andrew's Brotherhood, and all other 
similar organizations may work harmoniously and effectively. In 
all our big cities particularly there is a vast field for labor, and the 
church may wisely utilize this new movement in the interest of 
all mankind. The spirit of skepticism, materialism and selfish 



146 

disregard of the dictates of humanity, never was more rampant 
in our own land than at this time. The church may do much 
to counteract this and to promote its own prosperity through en- 
couraging and sustaining the zealous young workers who have 
united themselves in the bonds of Christian love, earnestly de- 
siring to play a worthy part in promoting the cause of Chris- 
tianity. 

"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer 
thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, 
and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these 
things God will bring thee into judgment." 

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while 
the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt 
say, I have no pleasure in them." 

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and 
keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 

"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every 
secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." 




147 




XVII. 

Throughout the country there is a trumpet call for the 
work of practical Christianity." "Not by power, nor 
by might, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." 

IN a populous Pennsylvania mining town, a 
little while ago, there was dedicated what was 
proudly termed ''the handsomest church in 
Methodism." It is a very beautiful temple 
of worship, from an artistic standpoint. It 
has all the modern conveniences, including 
some nicely furnished guest-chambers, for 
distinguished wayfarers, who may prefer its 
cathedral-like solitude to the best rooms in the millionaire's pal- 
aces close by. This may be, as stated, "the handsomest church 
in Methodism;" but will it be the most useful and successful in 
promoting the cause it is said to represent? Will it be a beacon 
light, sending forth rays into dark places? Will it brighten many 
lives that have grown dreary and desolate? Will it send forth an 
influence superior to any other, even in its own great denomina- 
tion, for the redemption, regeneration and uplifting of mankind? 
Will those who worship therein go forth imbued with the noblest 
spirit of self-sacrificing determination to carry out the motto of 
its Epworth League? While they "look up" will they also look 
down and try to "lift up" those who have fallen? What will the 
harvest be? A quarter of a million dollars, or more, have been 
spent in the erection and adornment of this fine structure. What 
will be the rate of spiritual profit returned to the investors and the 
community? What account will this rich temple give of itself, 
from year to year, from month to month, from day to day? Will 
its records of good deeds done exceed that of any other, less 
grandly equipped for service to mankind and its Creator? Will 
it rescue those in peril, strengthen the hands of the weak, inspire 
earnest workers, and altogether prove itself to be, indeed, in the 
highest and best sense, "the handsomest church in Methodism?" 



148 

Is it passing by on the other side ? 

Unhappily, it is not this kind of churches that fulfill the idea 
embodied in the lofty motto of the founder of Methodism. The 
world was his parish, but as a rule these days, throughout the 
world of religious activity in general, the finer the church, the 
costlier its decorations, the higher the rental of its pews, the nar- 
rower its field of operation, the more exclusive its field of work, the 
colder its atmosphere, the more distant from the people its normal 
condition. It is vanity of vanities, if not all vanity. There are 
of course some exceptions. There are churches of this kind which 
seem to be filled with the spirit of Him in whose honor they have 
been erected, and who is worshipped therein humbly, sincerely 
and truthfully. But the question still forces itself to the front: 
To what extent does the erection of costly churches promote the 
cause of Christianity in our land? If the church finds its greatest 
pleasure in clothing itself with costly apparel; in adorning itself 
with expensive jewelry; if it gathers its dainty garments about it 
and, like the Levite, passes by on the other side, woe be unto it. 

An English archbishop addressed a kindly letter to the min- 
ister in charg-e of a rural parish, suggesting the holding of what 
he called a "quiet day." The answer was somewhat startling, 
and certainly unlooked for. It was observed by the thoughtful 
rector that there had been too many quiet days already, and he 
added: "What we need is an earthquake." Aye, verily! Through- 
out Christendom to-day what is needed is a spiritual earthquake, 
to arouse all concerned to the ever-present peril, to the bounden 
duty, to the great opportunity clearly apparent to every intelligent 
observer who will inform himself as to the real situation, with a 
courageous determination to do his own part in the work so loudly 
calling for the exercise of all the faculties, the combined zeal and 
energy of the church. 

The church in the United States never had such a grand oppor- 
tunity as to-day. But it is only partially awake. There are many 
asleep at their posts on the walls of Zion. Fatal lethargy seems 
to have settled down upon many Christians, who utterly fail to 
realize their obligations to God and humanity. It is no time too 
spend hundreds of thousands and millions in the superfluities of 
pride and ostentatious decoration. The cry for help comes from 
every quarter. Multitudes of people are not reached by the 



149 

church, and chiefly on account of its own extraordinary course, 
especially in the older cities. Here .great numbers of very poor 
but worthy people are left to struggle, starve, and to die in the 
over-crowded down-town districts, while the great churches, in 
which former generations were wont to worship, and which stood 
like beacon lights amidst surroundings always filled with tempta- 
tion and surcharged with the spirit of hostility to man's spiritual 
welfare, gather up their movable belongings and take their way 
to more congenial environment. In one great city, within the 
past twenty-five years, twenty churches have thus strangely disap- 
peared, leaving no trace of their former existence, not even a mis- 
sion school, nor any kind of place of worship. 

Striking colors in the face of the enemy. 

This is an awful blunder. It is worse than that. It is an un- 
pardonable crime against humanity; it is a lasting sin against 
Almighty God. There have been rich men connected with each 
of these churches, who from their own resources and with their 
influence amongst their equally fortunate business associates, 
could have placed an endowment fund sufficient to have kept 
every church in its place, an active worker for humanity and 
Christianity, an ever-living testimony of the true spirit of Him 
who said, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these, 
my disciples, ye did it unto Me." A vast field has been shamefully 
neglected, and now there is a sudden awakening and great fear 
lest the spirit of evil, thus left undisturbed, shall work infinite 
harm. 

In the city referred to, one of three rich churches, with large 
congregations for many years past, located at the intersection of 
two great highways, in the vicinity of a teeming population, has 
just been sold, another is having a fight for its life and the 
third has long been for sale. On the unfinished tower of the latter 
is the inspiring legend, from Luther's magnificent hymn: "A 
Mighty Fortress is our God." But the defenders of this fortress 
have struck their flag and only wait suitable terms to surrender 
to the advancing enemy. In the same neighborhood, in the very 
heart of the city, a half dozen formerly strong churches have been 
wiped out. No amount of sophistry, no plea of want of support, 
can for one moment justify such flight from the field of battle in 
our exeat American cities. 



i5° 

There is work everywhere, in town and country, for more ear- 
nest, self-sacrificing and true Christian labor, and in this effort 
the church should unite, regardless of denominational or sectar- 
ian lines. It can secure no good results in any other way. It 
should know but one purpose, have but one aim, and know nei- 
ther rest nor peace until it has exhausted every resource in one 
common effort to bless mankind. Little can be done through 
active operations only a few hours one day in the week. There 
must be steady, liberal and effective co-operation on the part of 
men of means and true spirit. The sick should be healed, the 
hungry fed, the naked clothed. The church must bind up wound- 
ed hearts and wounded limbs. It must set stranded men and 
women upon their feet. It must rescue from the fearful whirlpool 
of wickedness little children. It must encourage those who have 
fallen in the struggle to rise again and to fight down the evil ten- 
dencies of their often-times almost lost and ruined natures. 

The open doorway to troubled hearts. 

The glad tidings of eternal salvation may be preached and 
should be upon every possible occasion, and in the true spirit ol 
Him who came to seek and to save that which was lost, and who 
preferred the company of publicans and sinners that He might do 
them good, in body and mind and soul. Such preaching 
has never failed to find many hearers and it always will be gladly 
heard in the darkest corners of the earth. It is the open doorway 
to the human heart; it is the pathway which leads to an influence 
and control over humanity that nothing can equal. The late 
Canon Liddon, of London, one night attended a Salvation Army 
meeting in company with a friend. He was deeply impressed with 
what he saw and heard. "You could not get such men to St. 
Paul's," he said, and continued: "It fills me with shame! I feel 
guilty when I think of myself; these poor people, with their im- 
perfect grasp of the truth ; yet what a contrast between what they 
do and what we are doing!" Verily, with all their crudities, all 
their violence to social customs, their unconventional ideas, and 
their strange religious methods in general, the Salvationists are at 
least teaching the so-called "upper classes" to think of the lower 
millions, their sufferings, their wants, and their needs. In every 
American city and throughout this whole country, there is a 
trumpet call for the work of practical Christianity, illustrating the 



i5i 

lesson taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan and emphasiz- 
ing the loyalty of the church to the teachings of its Founder. The 
only true life is that which is devoted to the welfare of others and 
the world will never grow too old, or too selfish, or too hardened 
to honor those who bless it with their benefactions, who set a high 
example to their fellows, who send light into darkened places, 
cheer desolate homes and help humanity upward and onward. 

Open churches throughout the week is an innovation quite new 
to this country, so far as Protestantism is concerned, but it is one 
that is in accord with the true spirt of American life. One of the 
secrets of the strong hold of the Roman Catholic church upon its 
devoted adherents is to be found in its universal maintenance of 
the open church system. Its people are never barred out. At 
any hour of the day or evening they can quietly enter the atmos- 
phere of prayer and worship, and the influence of this habit upon 
countless lives has been far beyond human estimate. The church 
never had so vast a field, so enviable an opportunity, as it has in 
our time and the demand upon it never was so great, never so ur- 
gent. Let it throw open the doors, and let the warmth and light 
within be typical of the spirit that ever welcomes those who seek 
to worship the Father of all. In this and every other way that may 
open, evangelization should be carried on not one day in the week 
merely, but all the time. Thus Christianity will make more rapid 
progress in the hearts and minds of all the people and men and 
women everywhere will feel the beneficent influence of a living 
faith, aggressively yet tenderly and faithfully manifested. 

The temperance cause. The vacation season. 

Year after year the general assemblages of many branches of 
the church formulate the most sweeping and emphatic deliver- 
ances upon the subject of temperance reform. It is declared to be 
the bounden duty of Christian men to abstain from all partnership 
with the saloon and its work. There are other indications of 
substantial and permanent growth of temperance sentiment. But 
the forces of evil, on the other side, are more active and vigorous 
than ever, and this in a great measure accounts for the timidity 
and uncertain attitude of many Christian men who do not realize 
how they are controlled and what is the effect of their course. The 
signs of the times plainly foretell at an early day the greatest con- 
flict between the friends and foes of sobriety and purity which this 



!5 2 

nation has ever seen. When the crisis comes, the church should 
put on its whole armor and courageously follow the course faith- 
fully pointed out by its wisest leaders and most devoted ad- 
herents. 

Amongst the changes in connection with religious life in this 
country within recent years none is more striking and deplorable 
than the conduct of many city pastors and official boards, in either 
closing their churches altogether during a portion of the heated 
term, or allowing the services held to become intermittent and 
purely perfunctory. The aggressive spirit gives away to a gen- 
eral cessation of warfare upon the strongholds of sin. Church 
activities are reduced within the smallest possible compass. There 
is a general shutting down of the spiritual forces. The command 
to preach the Gospel to every creature is held in suspense, as it 
were. All sorts of excuses are given for the course taken, but 
none of them approach the dignity of logical and unanswerable 
reasons. Meanwhile, the great adversary shakes hands with him- 
self and prepares for effective work. This is his time of revival 
and he will have a great ingathering, especially amongst the young, 
those whom he looks upon with special favor, whom he delights 
to pilot into his service. 

As though having a sudden twinge of conscience, a leading 
denominational organ, published in New York, discussing this 
subject, called attention to the fact that in its own city there may 
always be found a million and a half or more of unfortunates to 
whom a summer outing is an impossibility, or a thing unthought 
of; and then it is suggestively observed: "A large share of them 
are 'nobodies,' to be sure; but they have human hearts to be 
cheered and immortal souls to be saved, and many of them weak 
and sickly bodies to be administered to. It is a great opportunity 
for the exercise of Christian helpfulness. This is no time for the 
relaxing of Christian activity." And what is true of New York 
in this respect is relatively true of every other city and town in 
the country. Everybody does not go out of town ; not by a very 
large majority. Everybody cannot go, and to the infinite credit 
of humanity, let it be said, there are still some who can go but 
don't go; who might go, who won't go; who realize their respon- 
sibility to their neighbor and who redouble their diligence at a 
time when others flee from the scenes of battle and suffering and 
sorrow, privation and heartsickness. 



i53 

What can and should be done. 

There is nothing in the ethics of true religion which forbids 
rational rest and recreation; instead, it demands that men, women 
and children shall treat themselves wisely, even generously. But 
with regard to this matter of church vacations, there seems to be 
a tendency to an utter misinterpretation of the divine law, a fatal 
misconstruction of personal duty. There is not a church in this 
broad land to-day, properly organized, which has the remotest 
excuse for closing its doors a single Sunday in the year. There 
is no communion which has not a host of idle preachers at all 
times, many of them vainly seeking places in which to labor in 
their Master's vineyard. Further, there is not a church in which 
there are not men and women capable of filling for a time every 
official and non-official place vacated. And as for congregations, 
the facts speak for themselves. The multitude is always hard by. 
It could not get away if it would. It would be only too glad to 
avail itself of the privilege of free worship; to hear the story, the 
old, old story of Calvary, and to hear the sweet songs of Israel, 
without let or hindrance. There are churches in all our cities, 
the Sunday school rooms of which, in July and August, could be 
crowded with ragged and barefooted children, who with wonder- 
ing eyes would look upon a new world, should the doors be thrown 
open to them, and a welcome extended which they could realize 
was sincere, and which they could accept without fear, without 
hesitation. 

The hot season ordinarily is the sickly season. There is not 
a church that is not surrounded by the victims of human weak- 
ness and peril. There is not a community in which the minister- 
ing angels of mercy could not find every hour of the day, while 
the mercury is trying to get out of the top of the thermometer, 
numberless cases of worthy persons, sorely in need of material 
help, of personal sympathy and attention. The long roll lengthens 
with every tick of the clock, as souls pass to eternity without one 
word of Christian cheer or Christian hope. The vacation season 
in the church should not be one of torpor, stupidity and death. 
It should be utilized for good works, through which lasting im- 
pressions remain and inestimable benefits are conferred. There 
should be an example of self-sacrificing devotion to humanity and 
its needs. The church that builds upon any other foundation rests 



154 

upon the shifting sands, and when the floods come and the winds 
blow it will fall, and great will be the fall of it. 

A heathen philosopher's rebuke. 

In this era of intellectual activity church congresses are a nota- 
ble feature of the time. The criticism has been made that the one 
w r eak point always developed upon these occasions is the disposi- 
tion to strain the ear listening to the modern critics of Christianity, 
rather than to emphasize anew and with increasing power the 
faith of the church in all the essentials of its belief. In all 
branches of Protestantism, particularly, this fact is to be noted. 
It forces the thought : what a vast opportunity is presented for the 
coming up, and how urgent the need of, a few really great leaders, 
planting themselves immovably upon the articles of the Christian 
belief, with power to stir the masses, thinkers of all classes, as 
well as the lethargic multitude, who practically do no thinking, to 
enthuse them with a fire like unto that which burned so gloriously 
in the old world and in the new at different times a century or 
more ago. A noted Brahmin philosopher stated to a missionary 
that he had been reading the Christian's Great Book; a most won- 
derful book, he pronounced it; nothing like it had ever come to 
his knowledge, and he frankly declared that if Christians would 
live up to their Book they would convert the world within five 
years. 

Instead of rallying to this inspiring thought and bringing the 
people after them, most of the church leaders of to-day are too 
busily engaged in trying to conciliate the so-called higher critics; 
trying to make friends with the mammon of unbelief; laboring to 
answer the sneering agnostic. They devote a vast amount of 
attention to a small and almost hopeless class, while the great 
world of unbelievers goes its way, if not wholly neglected, certainly 
not looked after as it might be and must be before the church ac- 
complishes the mission whereunto it is sent. The world is not 
hungering for a new theology, but, as Newman Hall, in his plain, 
old-fashioned way, put it, the presentation of the old truth in that 
effective manner which shall make it appear new to those who 
hear it. Listen to his quaint words: "The Gospel presented is old, 
received is new; looked at outside, it is old, received within, it is 
new ; old as the sun, new as the beams that each morning stream 
through my windows, to rouse me from slumber, and help me in 



i55 

the new work of the new day. The Tree of Life is the same which 
grew in Paradise, but it ever produces new fruit." The learned 
doctors of the time need to study these homely truths and apply 
them to the work of their consecrated lives. 

The Rock that can never be moved. 

A noted Presbyterian minister of New York forcibly remarked: 
"It wouldn't take an angel to tell that the church is undoubtedly 
on the brink of a revolution." He thinks the case is analogous to 
the national situation in the uncertain years preceding the late 
rebellion. The south was belligerent, the north vacillating. It 
needed the firing on Sumter to open the eyes of the loyal people, 
to arouse their latent patriotism, and to fill them with a determi- 
nation to protect and defend the heritage of their fathers. Still, 
this clerical leader now cries out that it is his hope and prayer 
that there will be "concessions." He thinks the church is "broad 
enough and strong enough for all;" yet he admits that the decla- 
rations of the would-be revolutionists are directly and positively 
contrary to the cardinal principles, faith and practice of the church. 
The minister who is most successful does not work along these 
conciliatory lines. He knows where he stands. His feet are 
firmly fixed upon the Rock of Ages that cannot be moved. He 
looks up to the hills whence cometh his help with a supreme faith 
that knows no wavering. He has no time to waste in idle and 
fruitless discussion over creeds and hieroglyphics. He is filled 
with the spirit of love and devotion to the cause nearest his heart. 
He is aflame with zeal for souls and righteousness. He speaks 
to his people as the result of living convictions. And they listen 
and likewise are wonderfully lifted up. 

Why is it there is so little of this kind of public declaration of 
divine truth these days? Why does the pulpit so largely forget 
the inspiring lessons of the past? Why does it not continue to 
draw inspiration and courage from the examples of the early 
fathers, who proclaimed the truth with surpassing heroism? Why 
is it so fearful in the presence of the forces that are hostile to the 
uncompromising enforcement and application to the affairs of 
every-day life of the principles of the decalogue? Why does it 
not insist upon a recognition of the great fact that it speaks, not 
with permission and by the grace of men, but by virtue of author- 
ity from the Most High? Why is it so timid about maintaining 



156 

anew and ever that "The ten words" of the law are applicable to 
all men everywhere and under all circumstances? Why does it 
not rise to the majestic and all powerful dignity and fearlessness 
of the prophets of old, who warned the nations of the certain con- 
sequences of disregard of God's commands? Why does it not 
remember the burning and terrible words addressed to the watch- 
men on the walls of Zion, declaring woe unto them who failed to 
warn the people of the judgment to come? Why are there so 
many delinquent Jonahs, who turn their backs ana flee when 
commanded to cry aloud in the streets of our modern Ninevehs? 
Why do so many take refuge in harmless platitudes and "prophesy 
smooth things," keeping men at ease and in false security, while 
the clouds gather, the lightnings flash, and the thunders roll, 
telling of the sure coming of the consuming storm of divine 
wrath? 

A responsibility that must be met. 

On every hand there are cumulative evidences of national de- 
cay, in morals and religion. It is simply undeniable, no matter 
what is said to the contrary, that the church is really making but 
little if any headway. It is not fighting a winning battle. It is 
annually counting its numbers, adding those who have been 
brought in, but most suggestively failing to take any note of those 
falling by the wayside, who are increasing more rapidly from year 
to year. It is not grappling, at close quarters, with sin in high 
places, but it is cringing before it, often permitting itself to be 
cajoled or virtually bribed into a silence that it is terrible to con- 
template. It even dallies with the destructive warfare on its own 
day of rest and worship. It looks on with seeming indifference, 
while millions of American working people are being helplessly 
chained to the cruel juggernaut of ceaseless toil. It sees govern- 
ment made the plaything and corrupt ally of men of open infamy 
and looks the other way, lest some emissary of the evil one may 
shout: "No politics in the pulpit!" It sees multitudes of young 
men led off by the demoralizing example of the ruling classes and 
speaks concerning these things with feebleness and without effect. 

When will there be an awakening? When will the church in 
America reassert itself, and save this mighty nation from going the 
way of all the nations that forget God? The responsibility is 
tremendous. The duty is imperative. The coming of the new 



i57 

century should witness in this land a demonstration of Christian 
courage and faith, especially on the part of those set aside for the 
work of ministerial leadership, that will shake the world. "Not 
by power, nor by might, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." 
So may it be, through the fidelity of His servants and the unshaken 
confidence of His people. 



f 



158 



XVIII. 



" American institutions can only be preserved for future 
generations through the fidelity of the people to their 
national obligations — The duties of citizenship never 
were more pressing." 

TWO names easily occupy foremost 
places in American history and in the 
hearts of the American people. The 
anniversary of the birth of Abraham 
Lincoln is celebrated more widely, fer- 
vently and impressively with each pass- 
ing year. There can be no doubt that 
this feeling of profound respect, admi- 
ration and patriotic pride will increase 
as the years come and go. There has 
been no organized movement, with 
the text of the law behind it, for the 
purpose of bringing about an obser- 
vance of Lincoln's birthday; but the 
practice is becoming more and more 
general, and in a spontaneous way that 
is highly suggestive, the states falling 
into line and the popular mind becoming attuned to the spirit of 
grateful remembrance. A very large proportion of the generation 
active in life when Lincoln was at the height of his power and 
fame, has either passed off the stage entirely or lingers near the 
edge, almost ready to take its departure. Those of the present 
who remember vividly the times which sorely tried the Republic, 
are abundantly ready to testify their high appreciation of the 
great War President. They unite in placing his name at the 
head of the roll of statesmen and heroes of that memorable time. 

But these are in nowise more zealous in the desire to perpetuate 
the memory of Lincoln than the younger part of every American 
community, those who have come forward into the activities of 
life since the great martyr of emancipation was borne by a scr- 




i59 

rowing nation to his honored tomb. And it is quite certain that 
American youth in the future will regard Abraham Lincoln with 
even greater veneration than the young people of to-day. His 
deeds are immortal. His place in history is fixed. His fame is 
as secure as the everlasting hills. Even should the Republic 
which he did so much to preserve, and in the service of which he 
laid clown his life, go the way of many other attempts of mankind 
at self-government, the record of this remarkable man would 
never be effaced from the pages of history. It is meet and right 
that there should be especial recollection of Lincoln by the Amer- 
ican people at a stated period. His birthday surely will, as it 
ought, in the near future, take a place beside that of the greatest 
of the founders of our government. 

The fountain of patriotic inspiration. 

There has been anything but a creditable disposition in certain 
pretentious semi-literary circles within the past few years to mar 
the greatness of Washington in the minds of the American people, 
but there has been no real public sympathy with this iconoclastic 
and unpatriotic spirit. On the contrary, the recent celebrations 
of notable events in the nation's history have served to stir up anew 
in the hearts of all patriotic citizens fresh love and admiration for 
the illustrious men to whose dauntless courage, heroic self-sacri- 
fice, and surpassing wisdom mankind is so greatly indebted for 
the American Union. Washington was not a demi-god. He was 
in all respects a man, and never pretended to be anything else. 
In all his intercourse, public and private, in all the relations of life, 
official and unofficial, civic and military, his first thought was to 
perform the duty of the hour as it came to him with an eye single 
to the public good. He was not given to slopping over. He did 
not engage in demagogic sentimentalism, nor seek to win and hold 
the affections of the people in order that he might selfishly enjoy 
the incense arising from the altar of personal pride. He was con- 
tent to serve in every time and place, to the highest of his ability, 
with an earnest purpose, a spotless integrity, and, after all, the 
noblest legacy that he left to future generations was his example 
of unselfish living, pure patriotism, and exalted desire to promote 
the best interests of mankind. 

No one can read the memorable Farewell Address, with its 
burning utterances and grand wisdom, without being profoundly 



i6o 

impressed with all this ; Washington's birthday should be a perpet- 
ual reminder of single-hearted patriotism, noble devotion to pub- 
lie interests, inflexible honesty and purity in public affairs. And 
as the picture of those times is contemplated, and the great and 
abiding results are recognized, the lessons implied should have 
due effect upon the citizenship of the time, upon those who serve . 
in every public place, and those responsible for the performance 
of individual duty- It is an hour when the whole Republic should 
feel the inspiring influences that come from the highest fulfillment 
cf human obligations, Washington, and those who suffered, sac- 
rificed, and labored with him, must always and justly hold a place 
of exalted regard in the hearts and minds of the American people. 

The greatest leader of the century. 

So it was, has been and will be, with Abraham Lincoln. He 
came up from the people, the child of the trackless frontier. Born 
to poverty, hardship and toil, it was impossible for him to be oth- 
erwise than always in deepest sympathy with the dominant phases 
o : genuine American life. It was inevitable that when called into 
the sphere of public action he should stand upon the rock of equal 
rights for all, which is the main basis of the Republic. It was 
inevitable that he should contend, valiantly and with increasing 
intelligence, for the extension and maintenance, in all their integ- 
rity, of the rights of all men, irrespective of color and condition. 
There was within him, as part of his very nature, a love of country 
and a devotion to its best interests that made his will one of iron 
when he sought to protect and promote the welfare of the nation. 
He came to the front an enigma to the people of his own land and 
to the astonished governments of other countries. His wonderful 
mind seemed to grasp all situations as by intuition. The solution 
of great problems was to him a pastime. Every crisis found him 
calmly prepared. He rose more than equal to every emergency. 
His faith was sublime. When others faltered his prophetic vision 
could penetrate the dark clouds and see the rays of light beyond. 
The burden he carried would have crushed a score of ordinary 
men. He came through it all as through fire, but unscathed, with 
a lustre of worldly fame that was dazzling. He was the nation's 
idol. Stricken down in the moment of triumph, his memory was 
embalmed in the minds and hearts of a patriotic and grateful peo- 
ple. His great purpose was to save the Union, and had he lived 



i6i 

his aim would have been to preserve it, along the lines of equal 
and exact justice to all laid down by the fathers of the Republic. 

This man of the people profoundly believed in the people. He 
was always the defender and champion of their rights, and could 
he have lived to take part in the future contests his voice would 
have always been heard in the furtherance of the great principles 
for the advocacy of which he was so cruelly slain in the hour of 
his triumph. The lesson of it all is easily discernible, down to 
our own time. Republican government remains, but the duties 
of citizenship were never more pressing. Dcmagogism was never 
more rampant; selfishness in high places never more conspicuous. 
In every great city in the land there is a powerful political oli- 
garchy which assumes the right to govern the many for the benefit 
of the few. The influences which go out therefrom are demora- 
lizing and ruinous, as they are always un-American, unpatriotic 
and unjust. Mr. Lincoln believed that government of the people 
should be government by the people and government for the 
people; in other words, that individual citizenship had its respon- 
sibilities that could not be shaken off, or safely disregarded. He 
believed in the right of every man to take part in public affairs 
and regarded it as his duty likewise. In this respect the lesson of 
his life should speak powerfully to those of to-day who are so 
much disposed to allow the political machine and professional 
politicians to take entire charge of public affairs. 

Burning words never to be forgotten. 

Washington could not foresee, and probably little dreamed of, 
the marvelous material development of the Republic. It was in- 
conceivable in his time that the foreign governments which held 
such a wide extent of American territory, would be ind-uced, espe- 
cially for a mere trifling consideration, to let go their hold upon 
the new continent, permitting the establishment of a nation of 
75,000,000 people within one hundred years from the date of 
Washington's retirement from the Presidency. Inventive genius, 
which has done so much to bring about the new order of things, 
lay dormant within the minds of unknown men, and much of it was 
to come forth from the minds of those who were then unborn. It 
could not be foreseen, either, that before the lapse of sixty years 
the nation itself would be struggling in the throes of a mighty civil 
conflict. It could not be understood how great social changes 



162 

would bring added perils to the peace, prosperity, and happiness 
of the people. But it was clearly perceived that in many ways and 
at unexpected times dangers would arise which would call for the 
exercise of the greatest wisdom, highest courage, the truest spirit 
of self-sacrifice. The one thing needful was to impress upon the 
unit of power, the individual citizen, the imperative duty of per- 
sonal devotion to the American ideal; to always remember the 
supreme fact that there could be no safety for the mass unless each 
particle composing it, or at least the governing element thereof, 
should fully realize the true nature of personal responsibility. 

No thoughtful American can read Washington's Farewell Ad- 
dress without comprehending the chief idea which possessed the 
mind of its author, and without feeling moved to new resolves 
along the line so earnestly laid down for the inspiration and guid- 
ance of the American people. Yet it is precisely at this point that 
there has been the most woeful public and private neglect. The 
absorbing personal, commercial, professional and social duties of 
our restless, selfish and money-making time, as they are regarded, 
crowd out recognition of a higher duty, one which should come 
first in the consideration of every true citizen. In a Republic the 
concern of one is the concern of all. There can be no safety for 
the individual unless there is national unity of purpose and con- 
duct. American institutions can only be preserved, for the protec- 
tion and enjoyment of future generations, through the fidelity of 
the people to their national obligations. The claims or citizen- 
ship should not be overlooked or forgotten and the faster the na- 
tion grows the heavier must be the obligation which rests upon all 
who have a right to claim a share in the inheritance of the found- 
ers of the Republic. 




163 



XIX. 



" On Memorial Day the lesson of national unity and pros- 
perity should be learned anew — The man in the ranks, 
who saved the Republic, will be the one to whom the 
highest monument will be built." 

MEMORIAL DAY is a peculiar and thoroughly 
American institution. No other nation would 
ever have thought of such a patriotic and sug- 
gestive idea. Each succeeding 30th of May- 
witnesses an increased popular interest in the 
exercises of the hour. There is a more gen- 
eral recognition of the true spirit of this occa- 
sion, which is becoming broader and deeper 
and more beneficent as the years go by. The 
purpose in the minds of the little company of 
thoughtful men who organized the first section 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, was to do 
honor to the memory of the heroic dead, to 
look after the widows and orphans of deceased 
soldiers of the armies of the Union, and to in- 
culcate lessons of patriotism, for the guidance 
of the rising generation. There has been no 
departure from this well-conceived general idea, yet Memorial 
Day has now become typical of the growing reunion of the peo- 
ple, which in a little while must result in the obliteration of all 
sectional lines. 

For thirty years the survivors of the Union armies have annu- 
ally made a touching pilgrimage to the graves of their former 
comrades, whose number is so rapidly increasing, while the ranks 
of the living are so suggestively growing smaller with each recur- 
ring ceremony. The vigorous youth who emerged from the con- 
flict in safety is to-day the gray bearded veteran, moving with 
heavy tread, and soon the last of the great army of freedom, in 
the dying words of one of their most gallant foes, "Stonewall" 
Jackson, will "cross over the river, to rest beneath the shade of the 
trees on the other side." The wearers of the blue and gray are 




164 

meeting in vast numbers on the shores of eternity. Their battles 
are over and the struggles of life will also presently cease. The 
last taps will be sounded, and amid the silence of the coming ages 
they will sleep their last sleep. The fallen sons of the North and 
of the South will then be reunited around a camp fire which will 
know no end. 

To be commemorated by future generations. 

The touching ceremonies of Memorial Day will be the inherit- 
ance of coming generations and it is to be hoped the men of the 
future will value this possession as a legacy to be preserved invio- 
late. It is the citizen of the future who should be deeply im- 
pressed by the legitimate exercises of the hour, who should learn 
the lessons of true patriotism and become imbued with the right 
spirit. The martial display, the solemn music, the beautiful ritual 
and the recital of heroic deeds of those who took part in the great 
struggle to save the Union unite to stir the blood of young Amer- 
ica, the hope of the future, while those upon whom the responsibil- 
ities of the present rest are earnestly reminded of their civic duties. 
All classes of the people are under the peculiar spell of a festival 
that no other nation knows. And all the while those who are 
passing through the later stages of activity have become fully 
convinced that there must be a union of heads and hands and 
hearts which none can sever. The survivors of the civil conflict, 
on both sides of the line, as their steps become slower, their heads 
whiten, and their hearts soften towards one another, eagerly em- 
brace every opportunity to meet upon common ground, to ac- 
knowledge each other's manly qualities, and to unite in an earnest 
effort to bring about complete reconciliation and prosperity. 

Thoughtful citizens cannot but place the highest estimate upon 
everything which tends to strengthen the hold of the Republic 
upon the hearts of the people. The nation grows with dangerous 
rapidity and force. At the close of the century it will be pressing 
hard towards a population of 100,000,000. This will surely be 
reached before the last roll-call of the Grand Army. What of the 
future? Its material wealth, greatness and power are assured. 
But will the fires of genuine patriotism burn brightly and imper- 
ishably upon the national altar? Will new, and now wholly un- 
seen and unimagined perils, arise and overshadow the land of 
"unwalled cities" and marvellous richness and development, so 



i6S 

clearly pointed out by the prophet of Israel, five and twenty cen- 
turies ago? Will the beneficent institutions established by the 
far-seeing founders of the Republic be firmly maintained? Will 
the wise and just principles which guided them in their immortal 
work be cherished and sustained? Will the long feared clash of 
the millions against millions come with cyclonic force and de- 
structiveness? Will some tremendous combination of jealous 
foreign powers assail the government of the United States and 
wreck the liberties of its people? Will the long foretold ships of 
Tarshish whiten the southern seas, lay desolate the coast, and send 
forth, on a terrible mission, the armed minions of despotic misrule? 

The duty of unselfish patriotism. 

Whatever may be hidden behind the impenetrable veil of the 
future, the duty of the present may be thoroughly comprehended. 
The highest standard of citizenship must be maintained. There 
must be absolute fidelity to patriotic obligations. The lessons of 
the past must be remembered. The spirit of patriotism must be 
nurtured in all hearts and minds. The mystic call of the bugle, 
echoing over the hills and through the valleys, should meet with 
a universal response of loyalty from seventy millions of people. 
Patriotism is a supreme national duty. The responsibilities of cit- 
izenship should be clearly understood, manfully accepted and faith- 
fully discharged. Across the national firmament should be writ- 
ten, in letters of living light, the story of patriotic deeds and the 
daily call to the performance of the highest duties toward God 
and man. There must be loyal adherence to fundamental Ameri- 
can principles, and courageous determination to maintain them 
inviolate — a thorough revival of the spirit of true Americanism. 

In one of the darkest hours of the rebellion there appeared be- 
fore the loyal people of the land a quaint and weird story, telling 
the woes of "A Man Without a Country." As the incidents graph- 
ically related were studied by numberless firesides, a profound 
impression was made upon the public mind. It is doubtful 
whether anything written during the war had a more inspiring 
effect. The question went up everywhere: What will the Ameri- 
can citizen do if his government should be blotted out, or per- 
mitted to fall into ruin? He quickly perceived that the Man With- 
out a Country would be far worse off than Macaulay's New Zea- 
lander, viewing the ruins of St. Paul's. The latter might even 



i66 

look with a disinterested curiosity upon the fallen civilization, the 
ruin of a once mighty empire; but the American without a coun- 
try would be a curse to himself, a forlorn bird of passage, to whom 
life itself would be a fearful retribution for the sacred duties of 
citizenship neglected. 

One nation, one flag, one destiny. 

Around the tomb of the greatest soldier of the Union in the 
Civil War, a little while ago, gathered a mixed company of men 
of varying shades of opinion as to questions of the hour; men 
with diverse histories as one-time friends and enemies of the gov- 
ernment of the United States; men of wealth and power; others 
possessing but little of this world's goods. There were scarred 
veterans and youthful patriots; but all listened with the same 
degree of interest to the eloquent words of tribute which fell from 
the lips of a soldier of the Southern Confederacy. The incident 
at the tomb of Grant should be but the beginning of a new depart- 
ure, having a wide imitation in the near future. Sectionalism 
must be forever buried in the same grave with armed sectional 
hostility. The time has come when Memorial Day should freshly 
unite the hearts of all the people. It should never be used to ac- 
complish the selfish purposes of narrow-minded political leaders, 
or those whose chief stock in trade is agitation of sectional issues. 
The tiny flags planted above the ashes of the sleeping soldiers of 
the Union, wave in the breezes of a peace that should be em- 
blematic of that pervading the hearts of all the people in their 
feelings towards each other. It should be a day not only of hal- 
lowed memories, but of national reunion; a day when the true 
lessons of national unity, prosperity, and happiness are learned 
anew, by old and young; a day when the American citizen, proud 
of his country shall resolve to serve it with new zeal, fidelity, and 
honor. 

The "Silver Encampment*' of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
at Detroit, celebrating the twenty-fifth year of its existence, was a 
notable success, and greatly enjoyed by participants and specta- 
tors. The incident which attracted, and deservedly, the most 
notice, was that of an ex-general officer and ex-President of the 
United States, marching in the ranks. Mr. Hayes was quickly 
recognized by observers all along the route of the parade, and was 
the recipient of a long continued ovation. This tribute was well 



i68 




THE MAN IN THE RANKS. 

At the close of the next century, the man in the ranks, who saved the Republic in the day of its 
greatest peril, will be the one to whom the highest monument will be built." 



169 

deserved. Most men entitled to special distinction on such an 
occasion would at least make themselves conspicuous in some way, 
take pardonable advantage of the opportunity to call attention to 
themselves; but the man who modestly led his regiment of Buck- 
eye soldiers down into West Virginia, in the early days of 1861, 
accompanied by a noble woman, the record of whose devoted life 
will never fade from the pages of American history, and at whose 
bier the nation paid the sincere tribute of sorrowing affection, did 
not even mount a horse. He wanted no fine open carriage, nor 
did he ask the privilege of sitting upon the grand-stand, to re- 
ceive the salutes of the men who were marching in the old way, 
swinging along, as they did over the hot and dusty roads of an 
enemy's country. Instead, he doffed the honors of a General and 
that of the Presidency itself, laid aside the trappings that naturally 
belong to one who has occupied the highest official station in the 
land, and took his place beside the soldiers whose perils and 
hardships he so manfully shared. He was one of the men in the 
ranks. It was a tribute from the officer to those in humbler sta- 
tion, and one which the average citizen was quick to applaud. 

The man in the ranks. 

General Hayes, indeed, deserved commendation for his con- 
duct upon this occasion; and yet, there are two ways of looking 
at this little incident. It is the weakness of Republics and of the 
world in general, always to single out the man on horseback, the 
leader for the time in any great movement, in any crisis, or in any 
memorable conflict, for special popular admiration. His career is 
praised in song and story. He is honored in enduring bronze and 
granite and marble. It is the way of the world, and doubtless 
many readers of the account of the Detroit parade, looking over 
the list of prominent names, remarked that there were no "great 
men" present, all the notable leaders having gone. Yet who, in 
the years to come, will be most honored? When the story of the 
national struggle for existence is written for future generations, 
the man in the ranks will be the one who will receive his just meed 
of praise. The great monument which it is proposed to erect in 
Washington, to the memory of the private soldiers and sailors of 
the Union army and navy, will fittingly testify the nation's grateful 
appreciation of the services of the men in the ranks. 

And so it ought always to be in a government of the people, for 



170 

the people and by the people. It is the man in the ranks who has 
to be relied upon, and may always be relied upon, to stand in the 
breach in every crisis. It is the man in the ranks who stands 
steadfast in the face of the furious assaults of the enemy. It is the 
man in the ranks who stays where he is placed, amid shot and 
shell, death and destruction. It is the man in the ranks who 
rushes forward to complete the victory of the clay. It is the man 
in the ranks who stands silent, keen-eyed, vigilant and brave on 
the lonely picket, holding in his hand at times the fate of armies. 
It is the man in the ranks, who, with duty nobly performed, the 
victory won, lays down his musket and takes up the hammer, goes 
to the plow, pursues his daily toil, becomes once more the steady, 
Useful, loyal citizen. It is the man in the ranks who< carries the 
burden in every trying time, who bears the brunt on every great 
occasion. He is the foundation stone and the pillar of the Repub- 
lic, and when full justice is done him, he will become the cap- 
stone. He will be awarded the first place, the post of highest hon- 
or. At the close of the next century, the man in the ranks, who 
saved the Republic in the day of its greatest peril, will be the one 
to whom the highest monument will be built. All honor to the 
man in the ranks. 



The second martyr President. 




THE Garfield Memorial, at 
Cleveland, is the finest thing of 
the kind in this country, the 
Washington Monument alone 
excepted. In some respects 
the case is peculiar. Certainly 
the future historian will pon- 
der it deeply. Garfield was one 
of those men who never reach 
greatness in their lifetime. The 
country only discovered his 
supposed worth after he was 
dead. The record of his life 
was that of a plodding - , labor- 
ious, public servant, perform- 
ing the work coming to him 
and never going out of the 



171 

beaten track, never striking out in new lines, never appearing as 
a strong individual leader, at any time or in any movement. His 
nomination to the Presidency was a surprise to the whole country, 
and his election due solely to the tremendous effort of a thorough- 
ly organized party, and to the conceded and apparent weakness 
in affairs of state of his opponent . Had General Garfield lived 
and gone through his entire administration, his record would 
doubtless have been of the same general character as that of Pres- 
ident Harrison — quiet, conservative, safe, and in no sense pro- 
nounced, aggressive or especially notable in any particular. But 
the bullet of an assassin made Garfield's fame. Prostrate, help- 
less and suffering, he sighed his way into the "hearts of the Ameri- 
can people, and having gained a clearer insight into his real 
strength and character, when tested by circumstances, when the 
struggle ended he was assigned a high place on the roll of the 
nation's illustrious dead. 

But the Garfield Memorial to future generations will tell a story 
of vast significance in one other particular. It will forever stand 
as a monumental warning against the perpetuation in the politics 
of this country, and of the viciousness, brutality, and peril, of the 
spoils system. The historic events illustrated on the walls of the 
Memorial building do not tell the story as they might. It would 
hardly have been appropriate to have it so; but in the minds of the 
people of this country the lesson ought to be impressible and en- 
during. The spirit of that fatal hour was the high-water mark 
that ought never to be reached again. Yet it is gravely to be 
feared that a great many people do not realize this. It is quite 
plain that some of those high in official life do not. Recent utter- 
ances of theirs only too plainly indicate this. When the presiding 
officer of the national Senate, for instance, can sneeringly declare 
that the moral law "has no place in a political campaign; that mod- 
ern cant about the corruption of politics is fatiguing;" that "force 
will coerce the timid, demagogism will gull the credulous, fraud 
will rob the weak, money will pay the mercenary," it is high time 
that the patriotic American citizen turned his face to the wall. 

The boldest and most reckless politician in the land, with any 
expectation of public preferment, would not have dared to utter 
such degrading sentiments as these the year that Garfield was in- 
augurated President of the United States. Let the people, as they 
survey this great Cleveland memorial thoughtfully, with profound 



172 

respect for the memory of the man whose body lies in its solemn 
crypt, remember that there is incumbent upon them a great duty 
which they are not performing as the welfare of their country de- 
mands. Instead of learning a lasting lesson from Garfield's tragic 
fate, we have already almost forgotten it. We are becoming a 
strange and reckless people, wedded to the passing hour, to ac- 
complishing momentary success, but sadly indifferent to the wel- 
fare of those who must come after us. The Republic cannot en- 
dure upon the foundation of our modern politics. 




16 




XX. 

" A revival of genuine Americanism throughout the length 
and breadth of the land is the one great need of the 
hour. Here are facts which reformers should realize." 

EVERY self-respecting citizen should con- 
sider himself a part of local, state and na- 
tional government. He is under the high- 
est obligation to take an intelligent inter- 
est in public affairs in order to promote his 
own welfare. As a tax payer he is always 
concerned as to the amount needful for 
public expenses. If he is a resident of a 
rural district, there are problems which 
should receive his practical attention. If 
he lives in a country town, there are many 
things the local government should be re- 
quired to look after. If his home is in a 
great city, the health of himself and family 
may be seriously affected through official negligence, incompe- 
tency, or worse. In every possible respect there is a loud call for 
constant attention to the duties of citizenship. The theory of 
republican government is something very agreeable to contem- 
plate. Its practical carrying out is a matter which calls for the ex- 
ercise of the highest talent and conscientious devotion to public 
duty. 

An American historian has recently been at great pains to prove, 
to his own satisfaction, that the men of two or three generations 
ago were quite as derelict in this connection as those of to-day. He 
tried to make it clear that the political machine was as effectively 
operated in the earlier times as at present. Even should this all 
be true, however, it proves nothing to the credit of the present 
generation. Quite the reverse. Experience should have taughl 
the American people something. Those of one generation should 
profit by the lack of information, the errors, and the misconduct 
of another. There should be a steady improvement in the char- 
acter and ability of public servants. There may have been isolated 



174 

instances of official delinquency in the earlier days of the Republic, 
but the fact remains that it was the custom of the people to select 
the most intelligent, honorable, and trustworthy men in the com- 
munity for public place. Men were ambitious in politics, as they 
always will be, but the promotion of selfish interests as a ruling 
motive, to the neglect of official duty, was certainly the exception 
and not the rule. In our time the average office seeker is for him- 
self, first, last, and all the time; while citizens generally are so ab- 
sorbed in their personal pursuits that they give but little attention 
to the selection of minor officials, in town or country. 

The place to begin reform. 

The result of the prevailing system has been the creation of com- 
binations, large and small, which are governed by unworthy mo- 
tives. When thoroughly upright men secure responsible public 
place, they are compelled to face mountainous obstacles m the per- 
formance of duty, in consequence of their surroundings and the 
low standard which prevails in political circles generally. It is a 
singular fact that realization of all this has been followed by a 
peculiar course on the part of representative and influential citi- 
zens. In every town and city will be found a small number of per- 
sons who seem to think it incumbent upon them to act as censors 
of public officials. They get together and form some sort of an 
association, the ostensible object being to see that the laws are 
executed honestly and faithfully. The very existence of these 
organizations, is, in itself, a grave reflection upon local govern- 
ment. They suggest want of confidence. Yet those most active 
in such movements are largely responsible for the character of the 
public officials thus put under special watch. One-tenth the en- 
ergy devoted to this sort of espionage intelligently given to the 
preliminary work of selecting men for official place would bring 
a hundred fold more fruit. 

The whole business is wrong end foremost. For instance, there 
is universal complaint as to the character of the local legislative 
body. But who made it what it is? There is not a member of 
Councils who did not receive a certificate of election in due form. 
Every citizen had the right to go to the polls and say who should 
represent him. Why was there so much indifference and care- 
lessness, at the proper time? It is the essence of short-sightedness 
and costly folly for citizens to deliberately place in power men 



i75 

unworthy of public trust; and it is self-reflecting waste of eco- 
nomic and vital force which tries to stop public plundering, after 
giving a commission to men who cannot be trusted. What good 
can come of asking one set of alleged legislative reprobates to 
investigate another, when all alike are the creatures of those de- 
manding such a farcical inquisition? At stated periods the peo- 
ple have an opportunity, without let or hindrance, to select their 
public servants, from the least to the greatest, in all departments 
of government. Why do they not perform this duty, honestly, 
independently, and intelligently? 

It is all in the people's hands. 

A handful of self-appointed public guardians, of the Ebenezer 
Pinhook and DeWellington Highflyer variety, with their queer 
notions, senseless exclusiveness and lack of staying qualities and 
consistency, can accomplish nothing, when the members of stich 
organizations and the whole community turn their backs, or shut 
their eyes, when the polls are opened and ballots are to be cast. 
There is urgent need of a great campaign of education, and it 
should begin at every fireside. There will be no substantial im- 
provement in local government until the unit of power, the indi- 
vidual citizen, realizes his duty and is faithful thereto. When will 
this primary lesson be learned? They that are whole need not a 
physician. Any community honestly determined to be wisely and 
economically governed, can rid itself of official Phillistines and 
political highwaymen at any time. This is a sober fact which pro- 
fessional reformers should zealously endeavor to impress upon 
the public mind; and above all things, they should not forget their 
own short-comings, their characteristic propensity for getting the 
cart before the horse. The day of genuine reform will come 
when there is a wholesome recognition of the plain principles of 
common sense, a practical demonstration of personal loyalty to 
the fundamental duties of citizenship. 

The American people at this time constantly live under too great 
a strain. That period has been reached in the national life when 
the fierceness of competition is felt throughout nearly all classes. 
The rage for social precedence is a distinguishing feature amongst 
those who otherwise might be perfectly at ease, having no need 
-of care about the ordinary things of this life. The marked changes 
within the past few years have served to stimulate the ambition of 



176 

rmany, who, desiring to shine in the social world, give themselves 
no rest until they accomplish their great desire. In the business 
arena a tremendous struggle is going on to prevent tradesmen, 
manufacturers, merchants, and others of limited means, from being- 
crowded out, crushed, or absorbed by the combinations of to-day, 
which seek to dominate everything dependent upon capital for 
success. In the professional world, especially in all centres of 
population, men crowd upon each other's heels, nearly every 
learned avocation having a surplus of eager workers, wifeh many 
of whom the ceaseless contest grows hard. Men and women be- 
gin life earlier than ever before. The whole process of education 
is forced, from the Kindergarten to the University. With the 
.average teacher, in public and private schools, the great aim is 
not how well, but how much and how soon. The desire is to keep 
the educational mill running at white heat, to turn out the grist 
at a reckless rate. 

Looking backward as well as forward. 

It is a subject for profound consideration, what sort of men and 
women will compose the dominant element of American society 
in the next generation. The candle is being consumed at both 
ends, and if the chief men of affairs of to-day are to be found on the 
bright side of five and forty, those of a decade or two hence will 
probably take possession of their heritage at a much earlier age. 
It would seem that there could be no more profitable way of cele- 
brating the anniversary of the birth of the nation and other na- 
tional holidays, than to recall the staid, solid and enduring quali- 
ties of the founders of the Republic ; to try to learn anew from their 
lives some lessons to be remembered and to be applied with care 
and diligence. 

The Fourth of July orator, as well as the most circumspect and 
self-contained pulpit orator, reviewing the national history and 
outlook, is too apt to indulge in the spread-eagleism that is the 
chief stock in trade of the political demagogue. Nothing is seen 
from such a standpoint but what is grand and inspiring. But the 
wiser heads of to-day, looking backward, surveying the present 
and glancing forward, fully realize that the American people have 
reached a grave crisis in their national career, and that there must 
be a more general recognition of this fact, more careful alignment 
with national principles, firmer adherence to the cardinal ideas of 



177 

the Republic. There lias been too much inflation in every depart- 
ment of our national life. There must be less political, social, com- 
mercial and even religious kite-flying. It is time to get down to 
firm ground, to move forward with steadier purpose, calmly, reso- 
lutely, yet cautiously, with sincere respect for the patriotic tradi- 
tions of the past. A revival of genuine Americanism through- 
out the length and breadth of the land is the one great need of the 
hour. 

A leading religious journal, the Christian Advocate, makes the 
following timely observation, referring especially to the periodi- 
cal disturbances. in the labor world: 

"We regard the elements at work in the United States to-day 
as more fraught with peril to our institutions than all the merely 
political and personal discussions, conflicts, and agitations which 
culminated in the late war. For that divided the country into two 
general contending factions, of which those desiring the mainte- 
nance of the Union were the more numerous, more fortunately 
situated, and the stronger. But these proceedings, unchecked, 
must surely, in the end, compel a radical change in the methods 
of preserving order; and when that change has occurred, and the 
military spirit shall have crystallized, whether the mind that con- 
trols it be called Governor, President, King, Caesar, or Czar, 
matters not. As yet who sees any light on the horizon? What 
practicable method promising better relations is suggested? We 
are not frightened, for that is not our besetting sin; but in the 
darkest hours of the civil war we never felt more sober than to- 
day, as we contemplate the future of what our gifted country- 
woman, Mrs. Kemble, calls this great new world of Christian 
liberty." 

American institutions cannot be preserved, and the manifold 
blessings arising therefrom be inherited by future generations, 
unless the citizenship of the United States more fully recognizes 
its bounden duty to the State, to society, and to the cause of good 
government. American destiny means a revival of genuine, 
courageous devotion to political honesty, social purity, religious 
fidelity and national unity; the vindication of the highest type of 
citizenship; the fulfillment of the grandest visions of prophecy. 



i 7 8 




XXL 

"At the door of the selfish and disloyal ruling classes may 
justly be laid the largest measure of responsibility for 
the dangers which beset the nation in its hour of 
seeming greatest prosperity." 

IS the direful prediction of Lord 
Macaulay concerning the Amer- 
ican Republic to be fully realized, 
and that even before the close of 
the present century? Forty years 
ago the eminent and far-sighted 
English historian wrote as fol- 
lows: 'The time will come when 
New England will be as thickly 
peopled as Old England. Wages 
will be as low and will fluctuate 
as much with you as with us. 
You will have your Manchesters 
and Birminghams. And in those 
Manchesters and Birminghams hundreds of thousands of artisans 
will assuredly be sometimes out of work. Then your institutions 
will be fairly brought to the test. Distress everywhere makes the 
laborer mutinous and discontented, and inclines him to listen with 
eagerness to agitators, who tell him that it is a monstrous iniquity 
that one man should have a million while another cannot get a 
full meal; that one should be permitted to drink champagne and 
ride in a carriage, while thousands of honest folks are in want." 
All this and much more has already been painfully experienced, 
and many times during the past twenty-five years. Were there 
ever more striking, deplorable and dangerous changes in the life 
of any nation? See the contrasts presented. 

A little while ago there was work for all, at living wages at 
least, when economical domestic and personal habits were ob- 
served. There were no strikes, no lockouts, no disastrous labor 
wars, leaving in their trail bitterness, suffering and ruin. There 
were no great labor organizations; workmen did not need thus to 



i 7 9 

unite to protect themselves from the injurious exactions and selfish 
aggression of avaricious employers. There was no large militia 
force — a standing army in disguise — an aggregate of 113,000, over 
50,000 of these in ten industrial states, the entire number more than 
four times as large as the regular army of the United States, cost- 
ing the taxpayers many millions of dollars annually for their 
maintenance. The only duty these well-drilled and well-armed 
forces have had to perform has been in connection with labor 
disturbances, in every instance the result of disputes over wages, 
and these chiefly caused by the importation of cheap foreign labor. 
And this, too, after a generation of fidelity, upon the part of Amer- 
ican working men, to the economic policy of protection to Amer- 
ican industries. There were no wandering bands of idle men 
roaming over the country in search of work, or, through utter 
loss of self-respect, confirmed beggars and vagabonds. That 
terrible reproach of our modern civilization — the tramp — had not 
yet made his appearance amongst our prosperous and happy 
people. 

Things that were unknown. 

There were no great areas of hopeless and heart-sickening pov- 
erty in all our cities. There were no five thousand and ten 
thousand acre farms, conducted in such a way as to ruin ordinary 
tillers of the soil. There were no gigantic and grasping land syn- 
dicates, largely made up of alien stockholders, seeking to pre-empt 
the remaining homestead reservations. There were no all-power- 
ful combinations, dominating every branch of trade and stamping 
the life out of individualism in the industrial world. The trust 
was unknown and undreamed of. There were no great railroad 
combinations, controlling many thousand miles of rail and dic- 
tating high rates, that producer and consumer must pay. There 
were no reckless extensions of railroad building, leading to sub- 
sequent widespread bankruptcy and the loss of vast sums of hard- 
earned money by legitimate and confiding investors. The pro- 
fessional railroad wrecker and reorganizer, with his schemes of 
highway robbery, through watered stock and inside deals, had not 
yet appeared to curse the land. His equally conscienceless coun- 
terpart, the trust organizer and promoter, had not yet set out to 
crush the small manufacturer, trader and farmer. The bonanza 
kings in iron, coal, oil, silver and gold had not yet developed. 



Business of all kinds was conducted on a fair and generally 
profitable competitive basis. The vast majority of the people, in 
town and country, were quite content, working out their own in- 
dustrial salvation and asking no favors, or special protection of 
government, either state or national, and needing none. The 
ghost of paternalism did not walk the night, torturing the public 
mind with delusive hopes. The shadow of the mailed hand of cen- 
tralized power — the "strong government" now so eagerly de- 
manded by the selfish and tyrannical ruling classes — had not 
appeared, to darken the horizon and excite the fears of the peo- 
ple. There was no ostentatious and defiant display of superflu- 
ous wealth and semi-foreign snobbery, like that which is now 
such a conspicuous and un-American feature of life in every city in 
the United States. The millionaire had not arrived, in his gilded 
coach, with its prancing, high-strung, one-thousand-dollar, for- 
eign-born steeds, driven by smug-faced graduates of the "Darby," 
with imitation coats of arms, and all the paraphernalia of old 
world aristocracy and insolence of financial power. 

Riches and rags. 

There were no $100,000 and $500,000 and $1,000,000 palaces, 
castles, villas and mansions, telling of rapidly accumulated wealth 
and the desperate effort of its accidental possessors to impress the 
world with their tremendous social importance. The ridiculous 
and useless dude and the idle, silly, mincing dudine, had not 
flitted across the face of the social moon, exciting the just derision 
and contempt of mankind. There was no need of the organiza- 
tion of numberless so-called charitable societies, to look after 
multitudes of the forsaken poor. The world has never seen such 
development of riches on the one hand and poverty on the other, as 
has been witnessed in this land of supposed equal rights, but 
frightfully unequal and one-sided possessions, during the past 
quarter of a century. Verily, the words of the British prophet 
have been sadly fulfilled. And the end is not yet. 

No country ever grew rich, enormously rich, as fast as the 
United States. The increase of wealth among certain favored 
classes has been fabulous. Fortunes running far into the millions 
and even scores of millions have been piled up as if by magic. 
Millionaires are as common as tramps. The two classes came 
in together, and it would be a great thing for the country if they 



i8i 

could be banished together. The one prey on society at the back 
door; the other brazenly levy tribute upon almost every article 
of household necessity and general commerce. The one, lost to 
every sense of self-respect, has become a public menace and bur- 
den; the other, with hearts of stone and hands of steel, grasp the 
dwindling earnings of the poor, after forcing down wages and 
multiplying helpless idlers, and revel in ill-gotten gains, the re- 
sult of highway syndicate and trust robbery, under the guise of 
the law. Thirty-five years ago the citizen of the United States 
whose possessions, without encumbrance, were fairly valued at 
$500,000 was regarded as a very rich man. There were very few 
in each populous community who could be placed in this class, 
and there were not more than a score of millionaires in the entire 
country. A few great fortunes had been made, chiefly through 
enhanced value of real estate. To-day, every city has its proud 
troop of millionaires and even multi-millionaires. There is a 
surplus of wealth amongst the few in startling contrast to the 
extreme helplessness of vast numbers of our people. 

American millionairism. 

Facts published from time to time, although the result of care- 
ful investigation, concerning the congregated wealth of the money 
kings of this country, are almost beyond belief. In every great 
city may be found a large number of very rich men and thousands 
whose aggregate holdings amount to hundreds of millions of dol- 
lars. Twelve men can be named whose combined possessions 
reach the extraordinary sum of five hundred million dollars. 
One hundred can be named whose combined wealth is fully eight 
hundred million dollars. There are over four thousand million- 
aires in the country, whose wealth is estimated at upwards of five 
thousand million dollars. Vast estates are being acquired and 
subdivided, with immense increase of value all the while. Chicago 
can boast of nearly one hundred millionaires. Pittsburg can fur- 
nish a list of the same length. In the city of Cleveland there are 
sixty-three men with an aggregate wealth of nearly one hundred 
million dollars. Some time ago a special list was made of eighty- 
six of New York's richest men whose fortunes amounted to seven 
hundred millions. Within a comparatively short distance along the 
Hudson River, where great country houses are the fashion, sixty- 
three millionaires manage to find shelter from the charity of a 



cold world. Boston has modestly kept its rich men in the back- 
ground, but it has a considerable number of citizens who hold 
irom five million to twenty million dollars' worth of property. 
Philadelphia can show a list of at least three score millionaires, 
whose combined possessions reach nearly if not quite one hun- 
dred million dollars. So it goes throughout the populous centres 
of the country particularly. Great wealth is being accumulated 
here as never before in the history of the world. 

But no one has ever been able to< take more than a partial cen- 
sus of American millionaires; they multiply too rapidly and have 
too many ways of concealing their wealth. They sink their iden- 
tity in great combinations and corporations and largely invest 
their fat dividends and their share of rapidly increasing surplus 
profits in untaxable property, at home and abroad. There is a 
systematic effort to avoid making a just return to the State treas- 
ary. On this pertinent subject, Ex-President Harrison, upon 
the occasion of his last public appearance, declared that it was 
through the pursuance of such a policy that public discontent 
was fostered and intensified. He w r arned those bent upon cheat- 
ing the commonwealth that they were sowing tares in the minds 
of the people that would yet produce a fearful harvest. Aye, 
verily. And the return for such a service to the cause of truth, 
justice and patriotism, will be the unanimous and contemptuous 
verdict, in the wide circles thus rebuked, that its author has be- 
come a "crank." 

Why, certainly ! Every man, high or low, poor or rich, learned 
or unlearned, influential or without a friend, who dares to criti- 
cise and condemn any of the wrongful doings of the ruling ele- 
ment in American life to-day, is a "crank," or worse, a fool or a 
knave; a demagogue; an anarchist; an enemy of society; a treach- 
erous foe of good government; a dangerous person, who needs to 
be watched, and, if necessary, put down, with a strong hand. 
Benjamin Harrison, in one night, went to zero in the eyes of 
every millionaire highwayman in the United States. He will 
get his reward. He will realize the consequences of his unlooked- 
for declaration for a revival of public and private conscience, in 
a thousand ways. The big corporations that have been inclined 
to seek his professional services, if they could be assured that he 
was "trustworthy;" that he had "sound views;" that he was 
"straight" on the "rights of property," etc., will have no use for 
him. Mark the prediction. 



i»3 
The root of the evil. 

An eminent citizen of New York, Mr. George Parsons Lathrop, 
has lately contributed a striking paper on what he significantly 
terms: "Half honesty and half bribery/' in which he reaches the 
logical conclusion that the sort of men who fill the majority of 
elective offices are chosen because, "smartness, corruption and all 
included, they fairly represent the mixed elements of the people." 
He finds the basis and germ of political bribery and corruption in 
the half honesty of our social and business life. It is observed, 
with courageous candor: "The whole method of private business 
contains the germs of disease, which are ripened in public busi- 
ness." It is then forcibly said: "A good many Americans feel a 
keen zest for dubious operations so long as they are salted with 
consummate shrewdness." But one lesson can be drawn from the 
condition of affairs herein so clearly and accurately pointed out. 
Political iniquity can only be uprooted through a thorough resto- 
ration of honest methods in the conduct of private affairs. 

This criticism touches the core of the whole matter. It reveals 
the most dangerous canker spot in American life. The stream 
can rise no higher than its source. Popular government cannot 
be pure if the unit of power, the individual citizen, is tainted with 
corruption. It is the essence of folly to look for honesty in public 
affairs while the men who rule in the financial, commercial and 
social world are to any considerable extent either indifferent to 
evil practices, or directly guilty of promoting the same. It is 
rank injustice to utterly condemn unscrupulous legislators who 
secretly accept bribes and then clothe with immaculate garments 
the tempters who hold out the open hand of bribery. See these 
words from a recent issue of a leading journal, the Philadelphia 
Press : 

"This country does not need better assessors one-hundredth 
part as much as it needs better taxpayers. It is not a stricter ad- 
ministration which is needed, but a stricter conscience. Tax 
dodging is treated lightly. It is held a small thing to conceal 
personal property. Men and women evade the customs revenue 
and deem it a joke. 'Pulls' are used to reduce assessments. Fi- 
nancial institutions adjust their holdings on tax days, so as to 
be exempt by holding non-taxable securities. Wealthy men ar- 
range a fictitious residence to dodge taxes and get a low assess- 



184 

rnentr. The probate court is perpetually finding securities of 
which the tax gatherer never knew. These acts are more danger- 
ous to property than the utterances of anarchists and the agitation 
of socialists. The country will survive these, but it cannot sur- 
vive, as ex-President Harrison justly says, a system under which 
part pay taxes and part are tax free, part meet the just burdens of 
taxation and part avoid them." And here is the stinging ar- 
raignment of our rulers of to-day by a leading- municipal reformer, 
who through courageous service to the cause of honest govern- 
ment has earned the right to speak plainly and severely. Hear 
him: 

A picture of the times. 

"We have reached a state of things in which jobbery and rob- 
bery stalk with effrontery in public places. We are living in a 
den of thieves. There seems to be a widespread impression that 
the man who steals on a large scale from the city, and he who 
accepts bribes from wealthy individuals or corporations to de- 
fraud the people, is not as guilty as the poor man who commits a 
small theft, to save his family from starving. Exactly the oppo- 
site is the truth. Every man who robs the whole community, 
and every man who either gives or accepts a bribe to rob the com- 
munity, should be punished with extreme severity." Can any one 
question the logic of this conclusion? Can any one question the 
truth of the statements herein made, or deny their application to 
the condition of things in almost every city and state in the Union? 
The very foundations have been undermined and the temple of 
free government is in peril of falling with a sudden and mighty 
crash. The nation cannot long survive such a condition of in- 
ternal rottenness, which is the equal of anything ever known in 
the history of former times, in the record of governments which 
fell by the weight of their own iniquity. 

A New York railroad king, when asked what he thought about 
the proposed surface railroad on Fifth avenue, said promptly: 
"It's against the law; but that will not prevent men from trying 
to build it." Just so. There is no hesitancy in going ahead and 
ignoring the law, if there is a chance to make millions and to 
escape subsequent loss and punishment. There is no regard for 
the public interest. An officer of a corporation which was 
seeking a special advantage through local legislation, presented 



some facts and figures to an influential editor, who wanted to 
make the statement public, for the information of his readers. 
The vigorous reply was: "The public be — hanged! It's you I'm 
after. I want to keep you straight. I care nothing for the pub- 
lic." A most suggestive declaration, right in the line of the dom- 
inant thought of these ruling elements. Easy Smiler, the smooth- 
tongued, crooked mercantile appraiser, and his counterpart, the 
dishonest assessor and De Wellington Highflyer and his associates 
and friends, make their corrupt bargains, conspire to cheat the 
state and share the plunder, and no one is punished; no one is 
even exposed. Men talk about these things in a free and easy 
way, as though they were of no consequence. "They all do it," 
is the common and shameless admission, the ready-made excuse. 

How long shall these things be ? 

There is often public curiosity to know how corrupt schemes 
are put through legislative bodies. Bank bills are not openly 
handed around like apples from a basket. There are interme- 
diaries, like Simon Sneak and Oliver Slick, Esq., who "fix" 
things. Stock is promised at a nominal figure. Fat contracts are 
arranged for. There are secret deals with assurances of heavy 
returns. Campaign funds are subscribed to. Friendly co-work- 
ers are looked after. Embarrassing personal debts are mysteri- 
ously disposed of. Desirable and lucrative places are assigned in 
the embryo corporation. Orders are issued by outside managers, 
who hold these petty public servants as in a vise and compel them 
to play the part of public thieves. Fagan in politics is a fearful 
force in every city in the Union. Lije Crook directs the actions 
of his degraded creatures and Dan McSwiggin sees to it that the 
"sugar bowl" is within reach of all who have rendered satisfactory 
service. What a forbidding picture it all makes! From the 
Senate of the United States, with its slimy record of subserviency 
to the exactions and directions of the odious sugar trust, down 
to the smallest legislative body in the land, there is an open door 
for the lobbyist, the corruptionist, the briber, the enemy of honest 
government, the betrayer of public trust. 

How long shall these things be? How long can they continue 
and republican government live? Will not history repeat itself? 
Were the corrupt Roman consuls one whit worse than the bribers 
and bribe takers of our time? With the foundation of private and 



1 86 

public morality, conscience and decency thus undermined, will not 
the superstructure inevitably fall? Can the Republic long endure, 
resting upon a basis, the very heart of which has been eaten away 
by the canker worm of corruption? At the door of the selfish, 
rapacious and in all things truly American disloyal ruling classes, 
may justly be laid the largest measure of responsibility for the 
dangers which beset the nation, in its hour of seeming greatest 
prosperity. "Where wealth accumulates men decay," has again 
been impressively illustrated, this time in the new world. The 
country is gorged with riches, but ninety per cent, of its wealth is 
held by less than ten per cent, of the population. The intense 
greed for unhallowed gain has led to the abandonment in great 
part of safe paths and the pursuit of methods which if persisted in 
can only result in the virtual enslavement of the masses, or — an- 
other revolution. 

Nations are but communities of a larger growth, an aggregate 
of individuals, and the same laws govern both. Personal degra- 
dation means personal ruin. National degradation means na- 
tional ruin. This is the lesson of the ages, the story of mankind 
from the beginning. There can be no violation of the moral law 
without condemnation and punishment. It may be delayed. 
The hand of mercy may stay the hand of justice ; but it will surely 
fall and smite to the death, as certainly as the night follows the 
day. The laws of the universe are unchangeable in the natural 
world. The laws of its Almighty Creator are inexorable. Six 
thousand years of human history, recorded in the rise and fall of 
nations, proves this beyond the shadow of a doubt. 

In the grip of the destroyer. 

These impressive words, from a source not given to sensational- 
ism, are from Christian Work, appearing after this chapter 
had been written: 

"Revolution has no respect for capital, and the frenzied mob 
gloats over the plunder of accumulated wealth. A reckoning 
day is sure to come, through the wise forethought of accepted 
reform, or through the revolt of an oppressed people. Does any 
one doubt this? Let him study the history of the past. Persia 
went down when one per cent, of her people held in possession 
nearly the whole of her landed estate; Egypt was disrupted and 
fell when two per cent, of her people had obtained possession of 



i8 7 

ninety-seven-one-hundredths of her wealth. Babylon perished 
when two per cent, of her citizens virtually controlled her wealth; 
Rome expired when her landed estate had fallen into the hands 
of one thousand eight hundred of her citizens ; Greece followed in 
like experience; and other nations round out the lesson, that the 
wealth of a nation concentrated in the hands of a few is the grip 
of death. 

"What, then, of our nation? Can it survive when ninety-five- 
one-hundredths of its wealth shall have fallen into the hands of 
one per cent, of its people? Such concentration of wealth has 
been, in the past and will be in the future, from the very nature of 
the case, detrimental to national life and prosperity. The cen- 
tralization of wealth in the hands and under the control of a few 
immense corporations puts the many under the merciless rule of 
greed. Men out of work, some on the verge of starvation, are 
compelled, out of their pittance and want, to help increase the 
wealth of millionaires, or else shelter their families in comfortless 
homes. And in addition to this kind of oppression, this massing 
of wealth and of business in the hands of the few withdraws all 
incentive to effort from the many, saps the nourishing blood of 
enterprise in the masses, destroys competition, which is the life of 
business activity, enforces serfdom or idleness, undermines the 
morality of the people, kills the spirit of patriotism, breeds an- 
archy, and ends in national overthrow. 

"Are we in danger along these lines? If wealth continues to 
concentrate in this country for the next twenty-five years 
as it has for the past twenty-five years, ninety-five-one- 
hundredlhs of all the wealth of this country will be in the 
hands of one per cent, of the population. Can this nation endure 
under the strain of such a condition of financial affairs? Already 
business is largely under control of great corporations, the men 
of small capital are forced out of manufacturing, and the multi- 
tude of laboring men and women are ready for revolt. Nor is 
this all. Capital already lays its hand upon the government, dic- 
tates legislation, plays fast and loose with the gold in the national 
treasury for its own selfish ends, and rules as an oligarchy. Are 
we not in the grip of the slaver?" 



XXII. 




"In almost every branch of productive industry there is 
systematic fraud. The unpardonable offense is the 
telling of the truth. A revival of righteousness is 
needed." 

THERE can be no doubt 
that what Mr. Lathrop 
so pointedly terms: 
''Half honesty and half 
bribery," represents a 
discreditable state of 
things largely prevalent 
in many departments of 
the business arena in the 
United States at this 
time. There is a wide- 
spread and deplorable 
lack of conscience and of that elevated spirit of honorable dealing 
which was formerly the just pride of all our merchants, manufac- 
turers, professional men and leading citizens generally. There 
has been on the part of many a weak surrender to pernicious in- 
fluences, a sacrifice of the elements of true manhood. The one 
purpose everywhere manifested amongst this class is to forge 
ahead, by fair means or foul, to win the prize of financial success, 
ngardless of the character of the means or methods adopted to 
secure this end. ''Smartness" is the first requisite, the first rule 
applied to employes, and unquestioning fidelity the next. 

It is coolly insisted that the game of deception must be played 
from beginning to end. There must be no revelation of the 
tricks of trade; no enlightenment of the public; no possibility of 
gain must be lost through refusal to go steadily forward in 
crooked ways. "They all do it," is again the self-condemnatory 
excuse; and as always, to excuse is to accuse. Besides, it is not 
true. There is still a saving remnant. "It is the only way to get 
along, these days," is the brazen declaration on every hand: a 
statement that is equally without foundation. Dishonesty never 



189 

pays in the end. At times there is a shifting of responsibility that 
suggestively shows that conscience is not yet dead; that it is only 
in a state of perilous stupor. Oh! for its awakening, before the 
whole fabric of trade becomes hopelessly demoralized and fatally 
worm eaten. A faithful building inspector, in an eastern city, 
resisted strong political and personal pressure, for days, and re- 
quired the plans for a new "sky scraper" to be changed, by the 
addition of one hundred tons to the weight of the steel to be used 
in the structure. Think of the risk to human life that the builders 
proposed to run in order to make unjust profits. 

Fraud that runs riot. 

American manufacturers possess every advantage to secure 
golden returns from legitimate business. Yet in almost every 
branch of productive industry there is systematic fraud. A very 
large proportion of the so-called woolen goods of the period is so 
constructed that the public has no idea how it is taken advantage 
of. "Shoddy," for instance, is now so skillfully made that even 
experts may be deceived. To be sure, the main fibre in the at- 
tractive-looking garment is practically "all wool," as blandly 
stated; but if the unsuspecting customer knew it had been worn — 
and largely used up — by some other person, perhaps a beggar, in 
the streets of some foreign city, he would not touch it, at any 
price. The goods are sold under false pretenses. The customer 
is deliberately deceived. It is nothing less than naked theft. An 
immense amount of wretched stuff is palmed off on poor people, 
with but little money for needful purchases, which makes the 
crime tenfold worse, as "part wool." The cheapest and meanest 
coloring is used for cotton goods; "fast colors," always, at the 
bargain counter. "Rubber" goods are sold so cheaply as to tempt 
the uninformed which give scarcely any protection and the use 
of which has cost thousands of lives. 

In the boot and shoe trade there is the most persistent and 
equally outrageous cheating of the helpless poor, who go about 
with flimsy foot-covering, suffering all the ills of flesh in conse- 
quence. In carpets the ingenuity of deceptive "cheapness" has 
been exhausted. Miserable rags, the unfortunate housewife finds, 
in a little while, instead of the substantial though plain floor cov- 
ering for little feet she had with such happy confidence bought, 
after self-sacrificing saving for a whole year. The cheap glove 



190 

makers revel in fraudulent practices nothing less than criminal. 
The umbrella manufacturer, too, has learned how to keep up 
with the procession, while his victims pass on, robbed of their 
money and deprived of shelter in the storm. The "cheap" mat- 
tress maker knows how to utilize rotten stuff, with poor covering; 
to rake in money for material the making up of which ought to be 
prohibited by the public health department. In knit goods great 
fortunes have been made at the expense of the people, and the 
blanket manufacturer has had a bonanza in turning out covering 
for man and beast that caps the climax in the game of fraud. 

Criminal doings of food makers. 

If it is a crime against humanity to trifle with the health of the 
people in connection with what they wear and must use in the 
household, how should such practices in the making and selling 
of food be characterized? Yet it is simply stating a fact which 
no honest and intelligent manufacturer or dealer will for one 
moment question, to say that almost every article of human con- 
sumption has been more or less tampered with, imitated, or adul- 
terated. All over the country there has been agitation by the 
friends of "pure food laws," but without stamping out the mani- 
fold iniquities of trade thus aimed at. Some progress has been 
made in this direction, but very much remains to be done; and 
with legislators only too anxious to be "seen," executive officers 
indifferent or corrupt, and even courts every ready to protect 
great interests, powerful enough to have a "pull" in the so-called 
temples of justice, the battle with this combination of public pi- 
rates is a herculean and almost helpless task. Practically the 
whole range of farinaceous foods, such as corn starch, farina, bak- 
ing powders, etc., have been criminally tampered with. Bogus 
coffee, of one kind and another, has been a staple article of inter- 
nal commerce for a score of years. Tea trash, that a Japanese 
or a Chinese grower would not permit to come near his table 
under any circumstances, is sold in this country by the shipload. 

In the canning industry, millions have been made by the use 
of unfit products, imitation material, bogus "salmon" for instance, 
and new labels on old cans, from year to year. Grocers sell tons 
of cheap "California hams," which never came from within two 
thousand miles of the Pacific coast, and which are made from 
another part of the hog. The cracker industry has kept in line 



I 9 I 

with numberless tricks of petty deception, while chrome yellow 
and other injurious substances are freely used to give unhealthful 
goods an attractive appearance. The candv makers have had a 
great time fooling the people, making work for the doctors and 
druggists and long rows of little graves. Even the "finest mix- 
tures" are frequently the result of deceptive practices. "Grape 
sugar," which knows nothing of the fruit of the vine, but is made 
from the indigestible part of the grains of corn, is used in immense 
quantities, and poisonous coloring matter is added recklessly. 
One of the most villainous schemes of the time is the making of 
"whiskey drops," whereby little children and youth may uncon- 
scliously acquire the drink habit. Let parents be on their guard. 
When the careful head of the family buys old-fashioned " 'lasses 
jack," like his granny used to make, for his children, he has no 
assurance that it is not made of unhealthful bogus syrup. The 
very particular epicure, who knows a thing or two, buys his honey 
in the comb — he will take no chances with liquids in the bottle, 
however sweet and "pure" looking. He does not know that the 
natural looking "comb" itself was skillfully made in a busy human 
hive, by ingenious machinery, out of carefully prepared bogus 
"wax," and that the "pure honey," manufactured from glucose, 
was then deposited by human workers and sent forth to play its 
part in the great drama of commercial swindling which holds the 
boards every day and night in the year. Even the drug manu- 
facturer is shamefully guilty, deceiving and robbing the sick 
and adding to the income of the funeral directors. 

Wholesale cheating of government. 

The federal government is engaged in a constant struggle to 
get its dues. During the existence of the tariff of 1894, it was 
reliably estimated that the importers and manufacturers came out 
ahead in this battle to the extent of over forty million dollars a 
year; that sum represented the amount of fraud practiced, in 
one way and another, principally through undervaluation. Under 
the tariff of 1890 carpet manufacturers made big money, using the 
better part of "carpet wool," coming in under a low rate of duty, 
tc manufacture knit goods, in competition with other makers 
thus placed at a disadvantage. It was frequently discovered also 
that bales of carpet wool would have very soft and fine insides — 
another method of swindling the custom house. The notorious 



IQ2 

"hat trimmings" case will be remembered. Millions of dollars' 
worth of silk ribbons were classed one way on invoices and then 
sold for other uses. In every possible way importers and man- 
ufacturers using foreign raw material have united to defeat the let- 
ter and spirit of the law. 

On every hand the same condition of affairs is to be noted, until 
the question arises: What is to be the end of this wholesale and re- 
tail system of dishonesty and public and private robbery? The 
effect upon employes, of every class, is something those respon- 
sible for such demoralizing practices never seem to think about. 
The inevitable result must be the multiplication of vicious meth- 
ods, the breeding of a multitude of dishonest men in the future. 
Yet there is no escape from the odious and ruinous conditions 
imposed, except at the sacrifice of the means of livelihood. The 
workmen must obey instructions, or quit, and perhaps starve. 
Clerks and salesmen must be guilty accessories, or leave their 
places, perhaps to become beggars, with the streets crowded with 
enforced idlers of every class. The employe who would rebel and 
make a public exposure of wrongful methods would be hounded 
from one end of the country to the other. He would be black- 
listed and bitterly denounced for having "betrayed the confidence" 
of his employers. 

The penalty of honesty. 

The odious and un-American spirit here indicated is ever pres- 
ent amongst the ruling classes of the hour. Its blighting effect 
upon aspiring young men especially is to be met everywhere. 
There is no toleration for that manly independence which was 
once the pride of the nation. There must be unyielding obedience 
to the galling yoke of servitude, or the consequences are felt for 
life. The line is drawn and maintained with relentless rigidity. 
Those within the charmed circle are cared for, feted, pushed for- 
ward; those without, who have manifested a disposition to think, 
speak and act for themselves, and on behalf of the people, are 
placed under the ban; their way is barred in business, professional 
and social life. If at the bar, they look toward honorable service 
upon the bench in vain. If ambitious of taking part in political 
life, they speedily find the gates to preferment tightly closed by 
an unseen hand. If they are in the pulpit and dare speak out 
against the sins, though manifold and glaring, of the occupants 



193 

of the front pews, they are required to move on to a more con- 
genial field. Social honors and personal emoluments are heaped 
upon compromisers, who "prophesy smooth things," but the Gos- 
pel teacher, who, like John Gold-mouth, afterwards St. Chrys- 
ostom, in the pulpit of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, thunders 
against wickedness in high places, like him, is banished to the 
plains. In journalism many of the best and brightest and bravest 
are chained with bit and bridle and spend their restless days 
chafing under a restraint that stifles manhood and kills devotion to 
true principles. In these tainted business circles the demand is 
for an easy conscience, readiness to play rivals false, to deceive, 
to conceal that which justice demands should be made known, 
to act the part of duplicity with brazen assurance and spaniel-like 
fidelity. 

The sort of service required is herewith illustrated: The watch- 
ful "outside guard" of a corporation officer enters and announces, 
"Mr. Longtalk, Sah." The manager looks up annoyed and asks: 
''Did you say I was in?" The cautious and diplomatic reply is: 
"I said I will see, Sah." "Buttons," says the resourceful official, 
rising, "I think I will go out and you — can look for me," and he 
steps through the wideopen door and stands just within the other 
room. The faithful Buttons gravely inspects the vacant chair a 
moment and returns to the ante-room, to say to Mr. Longtalk, 
with a calm countenance: "The manager is not in, Sah." Who 
is responsible for that falsehood? If Buttons and his kind, and 
all others in all grades of mercantile and business life subject to 
baleful influences did not readily fall in with such crooked ways, 
they would soon find themselves in the streets. By and bye this 
teaching bears legitimate fruit. There is deception, falsified 
books, defalcation, ruin. Who is responsible? A host of the 
best and brainiest young men in this country are at this time be- 
ing trained in these ways that are dark; having their moral foun- 
dation undermined, their conscience seared, their souls blackened, 
for time and eternity, by the abominable practices of "business" 
men, who hold their heads above the common herd and thank 
heaven that they are not as other men are. Let us be profoundly 
thankful that they are not. These are terrible words; but who 
will gainsay them? 



194 

The anarchy that kills. 

Almost daily expression is given, through influential sources, 
to the sentiments here expressed, and it would be an easy matter 
to take up many pages with the most vigorous characterization of 
the methods of the times. Thoughtful men regard these things 
with the gravest apprehension. Some of those who speak out 
plainly have attracted wide attention and deservedly received high 
commendation for their courageous declaration of truth. One of 
these is Herbert Welsh, who has rendered effective service in the 
cause of reform, and who in his growing publication earnestly 
says : 

"It is not the anarchy from beneath that this nation has any 
real reason to fear, as City and State from time to time has pointed 
out, but the anarchy from above — the easy, widespread, hardly 
concealed and thoroughly insolent disregard of law, evading or 
subverting it, and contempt for obligations shown by many of 
those who can resort to that sort of thing, or do it all with appar- 
ent impunity, because of their great possessions, or the undue 
tyrranous influence which such possessions, in an age of peculiar 
greed, give them. This is the danger of the land at this hour, and 
not to be despised is it or widely lost sight of. It is in the conspir- 
acies and nefarious schemes and practices common among the 
holders of wealth: in the corporations and trusts in restraint of 
trade, which, either without law, or under cover of the mere forms 
of law, corruptly and unlawfully secured, seek to secure for them- 
selves all the rewards of enterprise; in the employers who con- 
spire, with every advantage on their side, to grind down to a pe- 
culiarly degrading slavery those by whose brawn and brain their 
wealth is piled up, oppressing the hireling with his wages; it is 
in these and other like forms only too well known, but which really 
should be better known, in order to their removal, that masterful 
danger lurks." 

A distinguished minister, Rev. S. W. Dana, of Philadelphia, 
recently addressed his associates in the Ministerial Association on 
the need of "A Revival of Righteousness." He said: "One of 
the most urgent needs of the hour is a revival of righteousness. 
Without it what becomes of civil and social virtues? What be- 
comes of national honor, of truth and integrity between man and 
man? In a free republic what are you to do if there is no fair 



i95 

vote, fairly counted? If there be bribery, at primaries and con- 
ventions, in legislative bodies and executive offices, with public 
men as clay in the hands of the unscrupulous manipulator, what 
hope is there of a just government, justly administered? Why 
should we censure the man who sells his votes for a small sum, 
and have no word of criticism for the committees of our great 
political parties and officers in large corporations, who furnish 
the money for these bribes, without asking any questions as to 
how that money is expended? If we turn our eyes from public 
and business life to the social condition of the things of the times, 
we discover the same need of a revival of righteousness. 

A righteous protest. 

"When the Lord's day comes, too many, even among those who 
bear the Christian name, seem to feel no sense of obligation to be 
in the Lord's House, to engage in His worship and work, or to 
derive from the day any religious blessing for themselves and 
others. The Sunday newspaper, the bicycle, golf, the rides, the 
excursions, dinners, musicales and so-called sacred concerts do 
not strike a single note for God and for unselfish living. Much 
of the literature of the day is degrading, and it is time that Amer- 
icans were taking more cognizance of the precept that 'Righteous- 
ness exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any people.' 
When the word duty drops out of the vocabulary of a people; when 
their one constant thought, in business or recreation, is of self, 
then their life is upon a wrong basis and they need a revival of 
righteousness. If the family, society and even the church is 
honeycombed with selfishness, what is to become of those who 
are dominated by that spirit? What is to become of the Republic 
if the forces which sustain and purify it are withdrawn?" 

What an indictment. What a page for the historian of the 
next century to stumble over. Is it true? Aye, every word, and 
much more might truthfully be said, and ought to be said. But 
the demand everywhere, on the part of those who have thus un- 
dermined the social, political, official and commercial fabric, is for 
silence. Nothing must be said. Everything must be covered up. 
Nothing must be made known. The people must be kept in ig- 
norance, the laborer in subjection, the government within the 
iron grasp of selfish and unprincipled money kings. The unpar- 
donable offense of the time is the telling of the truth. The all- 



196 

powerful conspiracy of degradation and silence is renewed from 
day to day and week to week, and year to year. But the light 
will be turned on, the truth will be made known and justice shall 
prevail, though the followers of the modern Baal unite to hold the 
power they have so fearfully misused. An all Seeing eye that 
cannot be deceived, is watching this drama of iniquity, and in His 
own time He will administer judgment to those who have ignored 
so defiantly the command, thundered from Sinai : "Thou shalt not 
steal." 




197 




XXIII. 

•Fashionable heathendom of old never knew what sinful 
extravagance meant in comparison with the drones 
and parasites of American life. After the reign of 
millionairism, the deluge of Divine wrath. " 

WHAT is the single line of apologetic defense 
always offered in behalf of the habits of lux- 
ury and extravagance of our new American 
imitators of old world aristocracy? Simply 
this: "It is our own money and we have a 
right to do as we please with it." Here is 
the answer to the first part of this self-con- 
demnatory plea of confession and avoidance. 
By far the larger part of the wealth thus so 
selfishly used is not the rightful property of those who hold it. 
Every dollar taken from unrequited labor has been stolen. Every 
dollar secured as the result of "smart" tricks in trade, that is, 
systematic deception, represents a crime worse than highway rob- 
bery, where the victim has at least some chance to protect himself 
and his property. Every dollar secured as the result of railroad 
and corporation wrecking and dishonest reorganization is covered 
with the blackness of crime. Every dollar representing part of the 
dividends declared by trusts which have corrupted legislatures, 
debauched executive officers, violated the law or defied the 
courts, belongs to the people, from whom it was thus brazenly 
filched. Every dollar made in gambling in the necessaries of 
life is as dishonest a dollar as that made at the faro table. Every 
dollar secured by the exaction of unjust rents from the helpless 
poor represents cruelty as well as robbery. Every dollar held as 
the result of cheating the state through unfair assessment and 
concealment of wealth belongs to the state. Every dollar made 
in commerce or manufactures above a fair return for the money 
really invested una the services actually rendered, belongs to the 
people thus plundered through high prices for what they are 
compelled to buy to wear and eat. 

Let there be an equitable readjustment on this basis of equal 



198 

and exact justice and see what the result would be. Hundreds, 
aye, thousands of millions would fly from the gorgeous homes of 
millionaires and multi-millionaires, from the strong boxes in bank 
and safe deposit company vaults. There would be the greatest 
financial and social convulsion the world ever saw. Land and 
labor are the original sources of all wealth. The American peo- 
ple have faithfully wrought for two centuries and they should 
never have known the strange and disheartening inequalities of 
our time. It has not been a survival of the fittest, but the triumph 
of the strongest, the most daring, the most selfish, the most law- 
less. If the struggle continues the story of the great Republic 
will be read by future generations as one more chapter recording 
the work of human greed, heartlessness and oppression. 

How the millions are spent. 

It is claimed that there is a lavish expenditure of this superabun- 
dant wealth "for the general benefit of the country." Yes, the 
money is spent — by the million; but in what manner? Every 
year sees upwards of one hundred million dollars carried out 
of the United States and handed over to our rivals in manufac- 
tures and commerce. This is considered a moderate estimate 
of the amount of money annually expended abroad by American 
tourists. Foreign steamship companies get their share for lux- 
urious service, and the transportation companies, hotel keepers, 
house owners, traders, guides, chaperones and innumerable lack- 
eys get the remainder. Those at the front of the ultra-fashionable 
procession now consider it the proper thing to rent, at high rates, 
houses in London, Paris, along the Rhine, in Italy, at the water- 
ing and mountain resorts, etc. Private citizens from this country 
frequently travel with more elaborate state, in England and on 
the continent, than foreign princes and rulers. They outshine 
the nobility, who are staggered at such reckless display of financial 
resources. 

One of the latest fads is representation on the turf. Some of 
our ambitious horsemen send "strings" of blooded racers and 
join in the great contests of the year. The ordinary expense 
involved is equal to a year's moderate income for a professional 
American of good standing at home, and this is added to by a 
social turnout that fills the slow-going Britishers with envy. 
There is the most liberal patronage of fashionable modistes and 



i 9 9 

tailors, and subsequent wholesale cheating of the United States 
customs. A wagon load of extra and expensive garments will 
be purchased, each one being worn for an hour or two, and then 
all will be brought in under the guise of wearing apparel "in daily 
use." Fashionable smugglers, especially of the female variety, 
glory in their many devices to escape the payment of duty and 
then they cover their souls with perjury, or cause their underlings 
to swear falsely. Tons of fancy goods are bought and great 
quantities of jewelry and personal and household adornment 
likewise. So general has this practice become a new industry 
has been developed, the commission agents and commercial inter- 
preters making a fat living. 

The ruling passion is ever present. Governments will be 
cheated without any rebellion of conscience. On one occasion 
a party was stopped at the gates of a southern European city. 
There was a noisy wrangle with the customs officers. Instantly 
the chief guide ran ahead and in a few moments the imposing 
cavalcade went through, amid the profound salaams of the apol- 
ogetic guard. He had quickly swung open the gates to make 
way "for the Governor of Pennsylvania" — who was in his office, 
three thousand miles away. The thrifty-minded guide well knew 
that his audacious performance would be appreciated and re- 
warded. Everything that can be brought over to give a foreign 
air to the homes and surroundings of this class of alleged Ameri- 
cans is freely purchased. Thousands of dollars are expended for 
gay looking driving outfits and these must invariably be accom- 
panied by well-groomed lackeys of the regulation pattern. Maids 
and valets, butlers, waiters and chefs; the whole outfit is engaged 
regardless of expense; in fact, it is considered quite vulgar to 
higgle over anything required to make a presentable appearance. 
Madame and her daughters must be at the front; the young blood9 
must dazzle their stay-at-home cronies; and the head of the house 
of shoddy, sham and pretense cheerfully pays the freight and 
shakes hands with himself. 

Un-American imitation of foreign ways. 

Official representatives of the American government abroad 
who cannot keep up with this giddy gait find themselves sadly 
misplaced. The general air of the social fireflies, while away from 
home, is one of supreme contempt for democratic ways and in- 



200 



tense admiration for everything English and continental. They 
strive to affect the manners and peculiar speech of old-world 
idlers, gossips and empty-headed pretenders. They make a dash 
at the gaming-tables and at the races. The son of a proud mil- 
lionaire manufacturer, when going abroad, was asked bv his 
father if he would not want a little money for the turf. And he 
was handed an extra five thousand dollar check. When they 
come home the very atmosphere surrounding these periodical 
visitors to the old world is heavy with the odor of the incense of- 
fered upon foreign altars. There is a fresh display of contempt 
for America and for Americans. Practically all the garments 
worn the year round are made abroad. And nearly everything 
used in the household that can be secured with a foreign trade- 
mark is given a place of honor. 

The gay season is entered upon with a determination to break 
the record. Our American aristocracy live in fine houses, big 
tnough for hotels; some of their grand-daddies would have got 
lost in them; but these frequently are too small for the dinners, 
teas, balls, receptions, whist parties, etc., which keep things 
whirling from Thanksgiving to Lent, and many now pay little 
respect to the season of restraint. Halls must be hired for special 
occasions and whole floors of fashionable hostelries are engaged. 
The floral decorations of such a night out cost enough to pay off 
the mortgage on a western farm. The caterer's bill represents a 
sum which would keep a dozen American mechanics' families in 
comfort for three months. The wine alone is an item that would 
have blinded the richest and proudest of the fore daddies. The 
music must be of the most expensive character; but its quality is 
something of a secondary nature. There must be foreign fiddlers 
and hornblowers or a "Hungarian Band" of some sort, whether 
it is made up of men who never heard of Hungary or not. Lately 
a new method of spending barrels of money has been invented. 
This is the distribution on a large scale of "favors" amongst 
guests. These sometimes are very costly, and in the aggregate 
swell the expense account enormously. But that only pleases 
Oily Rocks, especially when he sees the whole affair done up in 
great shape in the society columns of the newspapers. 



201 



Reckless extravagance. The rising generation. 

The stable outfit of some of these high-rollers in fashionable 
life costs what would have been regarded as a big fortune thirty 
years ago. The loudest display of Anglo-maniacism is in con- 
nection with the coaching club fad. Here is a spectacle which is 
indicative of the utter recklessness of this class of spendthrifts. 
Their horses are infinitely better housed and cared for than is 
the average American working man. Their dogs, upon which 
great sums of money are spent, are the recipients of attention 
and caresses that right-minded men and women bestow upon 
their own offspring. Dog-doctors and dog-dentists make big 
money ministering to the comfort and well-being of these pam- 
pered pets of the library, the boudoir, the dressing-room and the 
smoking-room. These fashionable folks have conceived a won- 
derful and grotesque admiration for some of the simpler methods 
of earlier days. The women do not wear dresses; they array 
themselves in gorgeously-made "frocks" and "gowns." Their 
wardrobe for a season will comprise from ten to thirty-five of 
these garments, costing from five hundred to two thousand five 
hundred dollars, and all the rest of their attire is in keeping with 
this exhibition of extravagance. 

The youngsters — they are suggestively growing scarcer and 
feebler every year — the race will soon be run out, let us be thank- 
ful for that — live in an atmosphere of cold-blooded disdain for 
the wholesome ways of plain living and right thinking. They 
are trained to imitate those about them, in un-American ways; 
to have a lofty contempt for the common people, who have to 
work for an honest living. Many of the young men do not think 
of matrimony before they are five and thirty or forty. This, 
indeed, is regarded as a weakness. But prolonged single life 
does not mean necessarily that they are to live in a cloister, so 
far as the company of the other sex is concerned. They can be a 
law unto themselves, and it is not "good form" to take notice of 
such personal matters. Concubinage is not considered an offense 
to be severely condemned. All that is needful is to keep up a 
bold front, and every fashionable door remains wide open. Cold 
bluff is regarded with ill-concealed admiration. 

In ostentatious display, indulgence of fashionable folly, shame- 
ful extravagance and recklessly expensive living, the class here 



referred to spend every year three times more than enough to pay 
the interest on the national debt. With fortunes ranging from 
one million to ten million, twenty million and fifty million dollars, 
and incomes from thirty thousand to five hundred thousand dol- 
lars a year, these people expend from twenty thousand dollars to 
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year in maintaining their 
different establishments, in town and country, at seaside and 
mountain, at home and abroad, in supporting an army of foreign 
lackeys, in the purchase of foreign-made goods and foreign food 
and drink, in vulgar display and the gratification of sensual appe- 
tites. Fashionable Athens, Rome, Pompeii, Corinth and Alex- 
andria never knew what sinful extravagance meant in comparison 
with the ways of these drones and parasites of American life. 
Their whole existence is a monstrous libel on true manhood and 
womanhood. The influence of their worse than useless lives is 
demoralizing and vicious. 

A quick transition. " After us the deluge." 

And it must be remembered that in most cases it is a mushroom 
aristocracy, that should excite the unbridled contempt of every 
man and woman of true instincts. It is ordinarily only one gen- 
eration from the alley to the avenue ; from the washtub to the mar- 
ble or silver bathtub ; from the clumsy old cart horse in the quarry 
to the ridiculous-looking fan-tailed "cob" in the park; from the 
linsey woolsey to the hand-painted satin reception "gown;" from 
the canton flannel night gown to the richly-embroidered sleeping 
garment; from the old tin coffee-pot to the gold-lined silver ser- 
vice; from the washing machine to the $1500 piano; from the 
penny jewsharp to the $500 mandolin; from the rawhide boots 
to the alligator slippers and patent leather pumps; from the old- 
fashioned and comfortable bed quilts, made by "granny" in her 
younger days, to the heavy silken coverlet; from the old bed of 
goose feathers to the luxurious hair mattress; from the penny dip 
in the pewter candlestick to the delicate wax taper in the golden 
candelabra; from the rope bed-cord to the steel springed and 
gold mounted "Susan B. Anthony" — for fashionable folks must 
sleep apart nowadays — or pretend to; from the humble but com- 
fortable homes of respectable and faithful toilers, to the twenty, 
thirty and fifty-room mansions, literally stuffed with the costliest 
furniture; from the plain American wedding outfit for a happy 



203 

bride to the $25,000 trousseau from Paris. The big houses of 
American millionaires contain from $50,000 to $500,000 worth of 
furnishing, pictures and other expensive adornments. Some of 
the fine ladies of the time are so particular that they carry their 
sleeping arrangements around with them, golden candlesticks and 
all. 

During the "season" day is turned into night and night is 
turned into day. The most profitable patronage of the demoral- 
izing plays of the fleshly school of impurity comes from this class. 
Likewise the debasing iniquities practiced in the name of "art" 
find full indorsement and defense in these circles. The one pur- 
pose all the while is to minister to the body ; to please the eye ; 
to excite the envy of the less favored; to cut a big swath "socially;" 
to spend money; to keep everything "wide open" — until the day 
of judgment — and for such as these it surely will soon be here. 
The whole atmosphere surrounding this element of American 
life is surcharged with the spirit of deceit, vanity, pretense, frivol- 
ity, wastefulness, insolence, impurity and defiant disregard of the 
high responsibilities connected with the stewardship of wealth. 
There is no sense of responsibility, and any such suggestion is re- 
sented as an unwarranted trespass upon "personal rights." "Af- 
ter us the deluge," said the wicked mistress of the weak and 
ruined French monarch. After the reign of American million- 
airism, the deluge of divine wrath! "Vanity of vanities, saith the 
preacher, all is vanity!" "In that night was Belshazzar slain and 
Darius the Median took the kingdom." 




204 



XXIV. 



•■« America's King Stork, in account with the people of the 
United States — Dr, To amount received, during 1897, 
$'»545»ooo,ooo — A ravenous monster who is gorging 
himself with the substance of the land." 

It has been stated, at a preliminary point in these pages, that 
America's King Stork costs the people fully one thousand five 
hundred million dollars a year, or upwards of five million dollars 
for each working day. This extraordinary statement is made 
with a full appreciation of its serious character, but not without 
the most intelligent and careful consideration of the facts; it is 
really only indicative of the burden unnecessarily placed upon the 
nation in consequence of the present political, financial, commer- 
cial, industrial and social system. It is understood, however, that 
the average reader, honestly desirous of reliable information, will 
be glad to have laid before him a chart for his guidance in reach- 
ing a just conclusion. It would be manifestly impossible to turn 
on the light so as to reveal entirely the inside workings and total 
results of the monopolistic methods of the period. But what has 
been shown from time to time, through official reports, the press- 
ure of legislative or judicial inquiry, and sometimes the outcome 
of rogues' quarrels, furnishes a fair basis for a comprehensive 
though incomplete summary of the situation. 

First, and always, as the greatest enemy of true national pros- 
perity, stands the liquor traffic. This absorbs nearly one thousand 
million dollars of the people's money every year. The political 
economist can find no just grounds for the existence of this fear- 
ful drain upon the national resources; but the utmost deference 
may be paid to the prejudices and the claims of the drinking 
classes; an enormous and altogether excessive sum may be set 
aside for payment for liquor for use in the arts and sciences, and 
for medicinal purposes, and to maintain personal habits, alleged 
to be imperative through impaired physical condition — and all this 
is simply in the nature of special pleading for the needless use of 
intoxicants — and still there would remain over $500,000,000 un- 
acounted for. Let it stand at that, for present purposes. Surely 
no one can then complain of the figures put down. 



205 




AMERICA'S KING STORK. 



207 
Profits which might have been shared. 

As remarked elsewhere, manufacturing- industry in this country 
has been productive of great wealth, the possession of the favored 
few. The evidences of this are to be seen on every hand. But 
what has been the measure of fairness meted out to the faithful 
workers in factory and shop? Let the official census report of a 
single typical year of prosperity, the latest at hand, it will be un- 
derstood, 1890, tell the suggestive story. According to the vol- 
untary statements of 300,000 establishments, with $6,100,000,000 
capital employing upwards of 4,000,000 operatives and turning 
out $9,000,000,000 worth of manufactured goods there was a net 
profit of $1,213,000,000, or a fraction less than 20 per cent, on the 
capital invested. Many members of these great corporations 
render no personal service, except as directors, perhaps an hour 
or two a week, and are justly entitled only to a fair return on their 
money. They received more than three times the regular rate of 
interest on stocks, mortgages, bonds, etc.; nearly four times the 
interest drawn by holders of United States and other first-class 
state and municipal securities. It is to be remembered, too, that 
the figures given show the average profit and that in many cases 
there was a much heavier net return, especially where there is ex- 
clusive use of patented processes. 

The average pay of the four million employees in these estab- 
lishments was about nine dollars per week. Suppose the latter 
had been allowed only 12 per cent, more wages — a little over one 
dollar per week. This would have amounted to the handsome 
total of $200,000,000 and the employers would still have had an 
aggregate profit of over one thousand million dollars, or nearly 17 
per cent. Might not this concession have been cheerfully granted? 
Would it have been anything more than just? It would only have 
amounted to fifty dollars a year for each employee; a small sum 
but very much more than the vast majority were able to save out 
of their meagre earnings. A little consideration of this kind is 
always returned ten fold. Instead, the rate of wages paid was 
regulated by the "law" of supply and demand. The "help" re- 
ceived only what it was necessary to pay, in order to preserve the 
peace and to keep the mills going. Is this wise? Is it just? Will 
it pay in the end? 



208 

How the people pay the freight. 

The railways of America have for many years been carrying 
thousands of millions of watered stock and bonds. Interest is 
not paid on all of the mountain of debt, and holders of many mil- 
lions of stock receive no dividend; yet freight and passenger rates 
have been kept up far beyond what would have been necessary 
under normal conditions and according to honest methods. Last 
year's total receipts for traffic were $1,125,000,000. If only 10 
per cent, of this may be charged to the account of over-capitaliza- 
tion and reckless financiering, the people are paying considerably 
more than $100,000,000 on account of the selfish operations of 
promoters, speculators, wreckers and professional re-organizers. 
Further, the power of such odious monopolies as the Standard 
Oil Company, the beef trust, and gigantic grain speculators to en- 
force special rates and rebates, robs stockholders and ordinary 
shippers, and the traveling public in general, of over $100,000,000 
a year; this according to known facts, and there is ample evidence 
to sustain the repeated declaration that this amount is far below 
what is really secured by these all-powerful combinations. 

Who can estimate the extent of the wrong suffered through the 
manufacturing and commercial crookedness of our day? Each 
one of the twelve million families in the land must bear a propor- 
tionate share of this burden. That it amounts to not less than five 
per cent, of the daily expense account, no one will dispute; and 
this, upon a very economical basis of household management, 
amongst the plain people only, gives a total of over $200,000,000 
a year of simple robbery, much of it of a criminal character in other 
respects, on account of the physical injury inflicted through the 
use of adulterated foods and dishonestly made clothing material. 
The business failures of every year show an excess of liabilities 
over assets of $100,000,000, the result, to a great extent, of mo- 
nopoly, discrimination and ruinous methods which sweep all 
classes of small dealers into oblivion and hopeless poverty. There 
are some facts to be noted in this connection of a most suggestive 
character. Of the total amount lost through business failures, in 
1896, 15 per cent, was charged to fraud, speculation, extravagance 
and neglect, showing the prevalence of demoralizing practices in 
business circles. The net fire loss is about $50,000,000. a year, and 
the insurance men say that in these days of manifold devices for 



209 

protection and extended watchfulness on the part of public serv- 
ants, a very lar,ge proportion of this is without excuse; and often 
much worse things are said. 

Where the speculator holds sway. 

In the fearful whirlpool of speculation disappears a vast sum 
of money, often many millions in one day. There is a studied and 
-significant effort on the part of those concerned, for reasons which 
will be well understood, considering some of the practices of the 
time, to conceal the facts relating to these losses, and also to keep 
from the public the disgraceful record of bank-wrecking and the 
■failures of bankers and banking institutions in general. Under 
the national banking system, disastrous failure is practically im- 
possible, when the provisions of the law are faithfully complied 
-with. Yet upwards of two hundred of these favored institutions 
have been hopelessly wrecked, the total loss amounting to many 
millions. In one eastern city, three such criminal failures resulted 
in a loss to depositors and innocent stock-holders of nearly 
$3,000,000. There are still as many state as national banks, and 
•these with ill-managed savings institutions and private banking 
companies and firms and scheming stock-brokers and specula- 
tive concerns, are constantly going down, carrying with them the 
hard earned accumulations of confiding patrons. And in many 
instances, it is, as one indignant public journal has truthfully said: 
''Rotten politics and rotten business" that is responsible. Bank 
directors who do not direct may be found everywhere, and state 
and federal officials are only too ready to cover up offenses and 
excuse, rather than promptly expose, the guilty and see that pun- 
ishment is their portion. The high-water mark was reached by 
defaulters in 1894, when $25,000,000 were stolen. The indirect 
effects of the crimes thus committed were felt far and wide. From 
all the facts and figures obtainable it is evident that the annual 
loss sustained through bank-wrecking, speculation and betrayal 
•of trust is considerably in excess of $50,000,000. The number of 
victims of the speculative arena is almost beyond belief on the 
part of ordinary citizens. The gambling mania possesses the 
minds of all classes and thousands of business and professional 
men are drawn into this ruinous vortex. What is publicly made 
known from time to time in this connection is only a faint indica- 
tion of the extent of the prevailing evil. 



2IO 



Kindred monopolies — Enormous Profits. 

How much the country suffers at the hands of trusts, no living- 
man will ever be able to tell, but much light has been thrown 
upon this modern system of nation plundering. Here, for in- 
stance, may be given three illustrative cases: The users of an- 
thracite coal are unjustly taxed, through excessive freight rates,, 
fully $20,000,000 every year. It has been openly admitted that 
the sugar trust has frequently made an extra profit of $20,000,000. 
The Standard Oil Company has so many ramifications, it bleeds 
the public in so many ways, that no investigator has ever been 
able to trace all of its heavy tribute; but it is well known that the 
unjust profits made from the manufacture and sale of refined oil- 
reach fully $20,000,000 a year; this in addition to the regular an- 
nual dividend of $20,000,000 on less than $100,000,000 nominal 
capital. This monopoly charges home dealers for oil 100 per 
cent, more than is paid by those who purchase for export to Eu- 
rope, where competition from the Russian oil fields has to be met. 
No corporation has ever dealt more vicious blows at honest en- 
terprise, so boldly corrupted legislatures, and plundered the people 
so openly and defiantly, as this gigantic combination of million- 
aires and multi-millionaires, some of whom add to their posses- 
sions from five million to nine million dollars a year. 

Electric monopolies, telegraph, telephone, light and heat organ- 
izations, etc., have reaped an immense profit in all parts of the land. 
The excessive monopoly tax thus levied upon the public annually, 
exceeds $40,000,000. One telegraph company, with an actual 
capital of $20,000,000, at one time paid dividends on $80,000,000. 
Nearly every city and town in the country has been subject to 
needless drain of the popular resources by local transportation 
companies, generally uniting to destroy or prevent competition.. 
In this way many millions have been taken by powerful aggrega- 
tions of capital, selfishly used without regard to the interests or 
the rights of the people. During the twelve years from 1883 to 
1894 inclusive, the loss to labor and capital through strikes, lock- 
outs, etc., averaged over $20,000,000 a year. During this period 
there were upwards of 13,000 distinct labor contests, involving 
over 60,000 establishments and 3,000,000 employees. It is inter- 
esting to note, and quite contrary to the general public impres- 



sion, that the percentage of establishments where strikes succeeded 
was forty-four. These figures are from the official records. 

How labor suffers — A mountain of local debt. 

The amount carried abroad every year by over one hundred 
thousand American tourists, chiefly by the spendthrift fashionable 
class and their retainers, is estimated by those who have special 
information concerning such matters, to be fully $100,000,000. 
One-half of this immense sum, an average of $500 each, may be 
allowed for legitimate expense account, and still the country is 
being thus rapidly drained of its resources without justifiable ex- 
cuse. The annual loss, direct and indirect, consequent upon the 
un-American methods of a very large proportion of the undesira- 
ble immigrants of later years, reaches fully $100,000,000. This 
may seem incredible; but let it be remembered that these misera- 
ble creatures work for about one dollar a day, while a vast number 
live on less than half that amount and send the remainder home. 
Thus, six hundred thousand of such unclean birds of passage — less 
than one-half the number imported, within the past twelve years, 
at the command of the employers of degraded cheap labor — may 
accumulate $300,000 a day, or $90,000,000 a year. Other work- 
men are thrown aside, many of them to become a burden to them- 
selves and the state. The sum of $10,000,000 annually will not 
meet the loss thus inflicted upon labor and the friends of humani- 
ty. It is this wretched business which is largely responsible for 
the multiplication of tramps and beggars on every highway. The 
facts as frequently printed are an abiding disgrace to this nation. 

The total amount of public loss through mis-government, local, 
state and national, for the federal "pork bar'l" has long been a na- 
tional scandal, official defalcation and tax cheating, is something 
no statistician has had the hardihood to wrestle with. It runs into 
scores of millions, as every wronged tax payer knows. The com- 
bined state, county, municipal and district debt in this country to- 
day amounts to over $1,200,000,000, or more than $300,000,000 
in excess of the national debt. A large proportion of this indebt- 
edness is due to the nefarious operations of the agents of the polit- 
ical machine. It is part of the penalty of mis-government, result- 
ing from the neglect of the duties of citizenship. And this heavy 
burden is constantly added to by the enormous drain to sustain 
criminal courts, the work of which steadily increases, owing to the 



212 

rapid spread of vice and crime, largely the result of the over- 
shadowing and all-consuming liquor traffic. Thus it will be seen, 
from this brief summary of facts so plain that they admit of no dis- 
pute, being within the knowledge of every observant citizen, how 
the American people are needlessly taxed through the selfish and 
destroying methods of the time. It will be noted that figures, 
based upon the clearest testimony, with relation to three trusts 
only are given, while there are scores of other combinations like- 
wise engaged in plundering 70,000,000 victims. Here is the ac- 
count as it may be presented, only in part: 

What is lost every year. 

KING STORK, 

In account with the people of the United States for 1897, Dr. 

To amount annually received through 

The liquor traffic $500,000,000 

Manufacturing workers' loss 200,000,000 

Household robbery (commercial crookedness) 200,000,000 

Excessive railroad rates 100,000,000 

Railroad rebates 100,000,000 

Business failures (net loss) 100,000,000 

Cheap foreign labor 100,000,000 

Bank wrecking, speculation, defalcation. 50,000,000 

P^xtravagant expenditures abroad 50,000,000 

Electric monopolies 40,000,000 

Mysterious fire loss 25,000,000 

Coal oil trust 20,000,000 

Anthracite coal trust 20,000,000 

Sugar trust 20,000,000 

War on labor 20,000,000 

Grand total $1,545,000,000 

Please remit. 

Down with the King ! 

In the fable, it will be remembered, the discontented frogs, not 
knowing what was good for them, came to grief most unexpected- 
ly. They united in a petition to Jove for a king, and he sent them 
a huge and ravenous stork. The new monarch, quickly perceiv- 
ing his opportunity, proceeded to depopulate the pond. He 
swallowed his helpless subjects as rapidly as his great appetitie 



2I 3 

demanded, scorning their protests. The American people have 
permitted themselves to be made the victims of a ravenous mon- 
ster, who is gorging himself with their substance, devastating 
their rich heritage and mocking their self-begotten weakness and 
folly. 





2I 4 



XXV. 

"Superfluous wealth and sinful luxury has been the load 
which has borne down one nation after another — * The 
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth 
it to whomsoever He will.' " 

WHEN the intrepid "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," 
to use the quaint language of his time, stood 
upon the deck of his little vessel, far from home 
and friends, surrounded by threatened mutiny, 
with a waste of waters everywhere, no sign of 
land, the stars in their ceaseless vigil looking 
down upon him without sympathy, his soul 
heavy with depression, his whole being strain- 
ing itself to perceive one ray of hope, he could 
still with calm trustfulness, look to the Great 
Pilot who had guided him in safety thus far, borne him bravely on 
amidst dangers seen and unseen and ask for strength and a renewal 
of faith that was sublime. At last the roaring breakers and glist- 
ening sands told that the long journey was o'er and triumph at 
hand. With grateful enthusiasm, the hardy navigator carried for- 
ward the white standard of righteousness and planted it upon the 
virgin soil of the new world. 

There and then this fair land was dedicated to Christianity, a 
covenant was made which was to bind the coming generations in 
loyal devotion to the highest principles of human government. 
The men who followed Columbus, two hundred years later, were 
all animated by the same lofty purposes. All the way from 
Jamestown, Plymouth Rock, the landings on the Delaware, Hud- 
son and Patapsco, the same spirit prevailed. The embryo nation 
builders were profoundly imbued with a sense of moral responsi- 
bility. They laid the foundations broad and deep. They rever- 
ently and sincerely sought wisdom, strength and guidance from 
on high. They honored God and sacredly regarded the rights of 
man. They wrought mightily and carved out of the wilderness 
an abiding home for true civil and religious freedom and honora- 
ble prosperity. 



215 

When the issue was raised, in 1775, between liberty and justice 
and tyrannical oppression, the heroes of Lexington and Concord 
led the way in the great contest that was waged for seven long 
and dreary years. It was the strong right arm of labor, from the 
field and the shop, that struck down the foes of freedom. It was 
the men from the humblest firesides who endured the trials and 
sufferings of Valley Forge, who battled all the way from Bunker 
Hill to Yorktown. And again, a third of a century later, the 
American sailor fought for his own freedom and the maintenance 
of the commercial rights and prosperity of the young Republic. 
It was the same throughout the gigantic struggle for the preser- 
vation of the Union. The men in the ranks almost uniformly 
came from amongst the honest toilers, who thus anew testified 
their devotion to national principles, and when the conflict was 
over there was a vacant chair at hundreds of thousands of humble 
firesides. 

The strong right arm of the nation. 

From the earliest beginnings of the nation until the present 
hour, American labor has been intensely loyal to American prin- 
ciples. The founders of the Republic were inspired by a sincere 
desire to carry out the letter and spirit of the immortal Declaration. 
They sought, through the adoption of the Federal Constitution, to 
''form a more perfect Union," in order that there should be abid- 
ing peace, prosperity and happiness. Because arrogant and sel- 
fish leadership in one-half of the country proved false to this fun- 
damental idea, the whole nation suffered. It was called to pass 
through the terrible fires of civil war. Black slavery was a curse 
to all labor, a menace to industrial freedom and to prosperity. In 
thunder tones, for many years, God said: "Let my people go," 
but the southern slave-holder, like the Egyptian task-master of 
old, said: "No! they are our property," and slaughter and desola- 
tion was their reward. As in the days of the Pharoh of the Ex- 
odus, there was mourning in every house. 

But the declaration of equal rights was scarcely made a fact be- 
fore there was a new effort to make it a cruel mockery. The era 
of industrial activity and expansion immediately following the 
civil war, afforded a golden opportunity for the recognition of the 
just rights of labor. Immense fortunes were made, largely in 
manufacturing, within a few years. Evidences of rapidly accu- 



2l6 

mulated wealth increased on every hand. Towns and cities came 
up as if by magic. Speculation was rife. Real estate values were 
doubled, trebled, and quadrupled. Labor was well employed at 
living wages, but little more. There was not only no disposition, 
to share, even in the smallest degree, the enormous profits that 
were being made; wages were cut the moment the tide was 
checked and when protest was entered, there was a startling re- 
assertion of the brutal doctrine laid down in the case of the black 
man, in the Dred Scott decision. The helpless slave discovered 
that he had no rights which his master was bound to respect. The 
American laborer suddenly realized that he had no rights which 
capital was bound to respect. He must take what he could get, 
whatever was offered him. He could make no terms, exact no* 
conditions, demand no concessions, look for no equitable division 
of the profits of his faithful toil. If he protested he was peremp- 
torily stood aside and the old world was placed under fresh tribute 
for eager workers at even less pay than was being received by the 
American workmen. 

As it is — As it might have been. 

Thus began the destructive struggle between millions and mil- 
lions; between arrogant and selfish millionairism and the rights of 
American manhood. Twenty-five years of this unequal contest 
has brought industrial and social conditions which are a lasting^ 
disgrace to the country and a peril to free institutions, the magni- 
tude of which thoughtful and patriotic men are only beginning to 
realize. How different it might have been! Think of the happi- 
ness that would have been the lot of vast numbers of our most 
worthy people if the spirit of selfishness had not taken possession 
of the employing class, to such a large extent. Thousands of 
millions of do.'lars of the created wealth of the land have been un- 
justly absorbed by the iron-hearted few, while millions have been 
reduced to beggary, and millions more have been compelled to 1 
wade through the dark waters of distress. 

What a blistering shame to America it is that such a state of 
things should exist. Here was a golden chance for all; yet vast 
numbers of those who have faithfully toiled for many years have 
not a dollar ahead, and still greater numbers have seen the value 
of their little possessions melt away like snow before an April sun. 
Their homes have been sacrificed and their savings swept from 



2I 7 

them. Like the returned children of the Jewish captivity, they 
have sown much and brought in little; they eat but have not 
enough; they drink but are not filled with drink; they clothe 
themselves but none are warm; "and he that earneth wages, tarn- 
eth wages to put them into a bag with holes." Very many have 
been compelled to eat the bitter bread of so-called benevolence, 
and it is flung into their faces that the "blessed spirit of charity" 
was never more active; but this is adding insult to injury. It is 
not charity that is wanted, but justice that is rightfully demanded, 
a fair share of the legitimate profits of honest and faithful labor. 
Besides, most of this "charity" is only partial and reluctant restitu- 
tion. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been carried out of 
the country by cheap and degraded foreign labor, and by the reck- 
less devotees of fashion, neither class having any sympathy with 
American institutions, no regard for the rights of American labor. 

The results of millionairism. 

Meanwhile, that heartless economic device, the so-called "law" 
of supply and demand, is kept in full operation, for the purpose of 
keeping down workers and preventing them from getting their 
just dues. Our work people are rapidly being forced down to the 
European level and this must be the logical and inevitable result 
of a continuance of the present policy. There is a surplus of every 
kind of manual labor, especially in the cities, and poverty, vice 
and crime are steadily and alarmingly on the increase. This is not 
an imaginary picture; it is simply the presentation in plain words 
of terrible facts, known to all intelligent men, admitted by every 
observer of existing conditions, yet selfishly ignored by the class 
responsible therefor, and who continue to revel in the tribute 
exacted from the American people. In other respects the national 
horizon is clouded by degrading social, political and commercial 
changes. Money is king everywhere. It has made a den of 
thieves of the political arena. It has defiled the temple of justice. 
It has corrupted and debased society. It commands the obse- 
quious deference of the church, under the penalty of its crushing 
displeasure. Its evil spirit has debauched the commercial world 
and the rising- generation is being taught that the only command- 
ment to be feared is, thou shalt not be found out. Disinterested 
patriotism is almost unknown. Men cannot forget self long 



2l8 

enough to unite to rescue government from the foul hands that 
control and abuse it. 

The insolence of American millionairism is the brazen counter- 
part of the haughty defiance of voluptuaries in the worst periods 
of civilization the world has ever known. History is again re- 
peating itself. As in Nineveh and Babylon of old, so in our 
wealth-gorged American cities; "The noise of a whip, and the 
noise of the rattling of the wheels and of prancing horses and of 
jumping chariots" fills the streets, while the lamentations of the 
hungry, the naked, the sick and the dying may be heard on every 
side. The golden chariots were no more an evidence of reckless 
extravagance and sinful pride than the $5000 coaches, bespangled 
with blue and scarlet and gold, which may now be seen on the 
streets of every American city. The accursed greed for gain of 
a former time, when the oppressor reigned in forgetfulness or de- 
fiance of Divine commands, is with us from morn till night. The 
aim once more is to "swallow up the needy, even to make the poor 
of the land fail." 

The cry of millionairism is precisely like that of the oppressors 
of. four and twenty centuries ago. They also say: "When will the 
new moon be gone that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath that 
we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small and the shekel 
great, and falsifying the balances of deceit? That we may buy 
the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes?" They, in- 
deed, study how to make the measure small and the dollar great. 
They rob labor and swell their own coffers by every device that 
can be thought out. They have no care for humanity, no thought 
of God, even no respect for His day nor the right of the laborer 
to enjoy it for needful rest, no fear of retribution. They drive 
on over the people as though there could be no day of reckoning, 
no settlement of the great account. Yet hear the words of the 
prophet: "The Lord hath sworn, surely I will never forget any 
of their works." In one of our great cities over one hundred lives 
were sacrificed through selfish indifference to the rights of hu- 
manity by a single corporation, controlling local transit, within 
two years. 

Greater Babylon. 
They behold their palaces and great estates; their iron and steel, 
granite and marble store-houses of superfluous wealth, containing 
hundreds of millions of well protected securities and other mil- 



219 

lions of idle capital, waiting eagerly for every opportunity to use it 
to make more millions, and they exultantly cry out, with the proud 
king of the Chaldeans: "Is not tl.is great Babylon, that I have 
built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power and 
for the honor of my majesty." They forget the sure fate of Neb- 
uchadnezzar, that while he yet spake the judgment of Heaven fell 
upon him, to teach him that "the Most High ruleth in the king- 
dom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will." They despise 
the warning that pride goeth before destruction and a haughty 
spirit before a fall. They forget the burning pages of history 
that tell of the rise and fall of every such kingdom of unhallowed 
and misused riches. 

They forget that God is just. They forget His own words, as 
spoken with such majestic impressiveness and so often by his 
great prophets and which have been fulfilled over and over again 
in the world's history. No nation ever came to an untimely end 
through the drying up of its natural resources and the poverty 
of the people through no fault of their own, but superfluous wealth 
and sinful luxury has been the load which has borne down one 
nation after another, the self-immolated victims of selfishness, im- 
piety, sensuality, pride, indolence and utter forgetfulness of God 
and humanity. And may not the same consuming judgment 
fall again, in this land of "unwalled villages," so clearly pointed out 
by the wonderful seer, six and twenty centuries ago? "Neither 
their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day 
of the Lord's wrath." 

And with it all, the possessors of these superfluous riches arc 
like the common people whom they treat with such disdain, and 
whom they have in such great measure wronged. They are even 
more unhappy at heart. Their selfish existence brings its own 
punishment in the absence of real enjoyment. With them life is 
a round of formal self-indulgence, that leaves them also holding a 
bag filled with holes. They array themselves in costly apparel, 
but they are not warm. They know nothing of the inner joy that 
comes from a conscience void of offense towards God and man. 
They eat and drink, but are never filled. Their lives are in the 
end a dreary waste. Their young men grow old in youth and 
their maidens waste away at noon-tide. "The judgments of God 
are true and righteous altogether." As men sow they surely reap. 



Where freedom's hosts encamped. 

*" Recently it was my privilege to stand upon historic ground, 
sacred to every American citizen. Surely no one can walk the 
rude ramparts of Valley Forge, which, in their wonderful preser- 
vation, speak so eloquently and impressively of the heroism and 
self-sacrificing patriotism of the men of '76, without receiving 
true inspiration. Here is the spot upon which all citizens of the 
great Republic, the men of the north, south, east and west may 
meet and renew their allegiance to American institutions. The 
story of those thrilling times comes before the thoughtful observer 
like an ever-living panorama. The fearful sufferings of the hour 
are recalled, the temptations to betray a sacred trust which must 
have presented themselves with increasing force. In his midnight 
watch the half frozen guard appears before the mind's eye as one 
of the noblest figures in all history. Not far from the rude but still 
strong breastworks of Fort Huntingdon, is seen the only recog- 
nized grave amidst the hundreds of victims of the pitiless elements, 
of disease and privation. For nearly a century and a quarter the 
spirit of the dead soldier, John Waterman, of Rhode Island, has 
brooded over the scene of the trials and dangers of the little army 
which clung together, despite every hardship and discouragement 
and which was actuated by the love of country, the love of home 
and the love of mankind. Well would it be for this great nation 
if such pilgrimages were often made by the people; if the lessons 
of the past were more deeply studied; if the spirit of true patriot- 
ism stirred the hearts and minds of American citizens at all times, 
keeping them in closer alliance with the principles of free gov- 
ernment, and inspiring them with more courageous fidelity to the 
public welfare. There is no other place where the youth of the 
land may be so strongly impressed. Valley Forge, in the years to 
come, should be the Mecca for a steadily increasing number of 
people from all parts of this country, and from other lands." 

There is a legend of the American wilderness which is peculiar- 
ly impressive, A great eagle was observed to leave his lofty eerie 
and soar proudly aloft Higher and higher he circled, as though 
ambitious to reach the heavens and reign within another world. 
Suddenly, this king of birds was seen to change his course, as 
though making an effort to return to the mountain crag. But he 



* From " The Sleeping Sentinel of Valley Forge," by Edwin K. Hart. 



22 3 

came with swift and perilous descent and with a piercing scream 
fell to the rocks below, Without his knowledge, a deadly serpent 
had hidden beneath his wing and unawares he had received a 
treacherous wound, just when glorying in his wonderful strength 
and conscious power, The American nation, filled with the lust 
of pride, vain glory, and all the pomp and vanity of the things of 
this world, is soaring high; yet beneath its capacious wings it is 
carrying treacherous and dangerous elements which may wound 
it unto death 

The pathway of national safety. 

Truly, there must be a return to the early principles of Ameri- 
can life or the direst consequences will ensue. Labor's just rights 
must be recognized. It is the bounden duty of government to 
take note of these things. Let there be courageous unity on the 
part of those who toil, the workmen in the shop and in the field, 
the laborer and the farmer, the small tradesman and modest prop- 
erty owner. United they can resist the selfish aggressions of un- 
American millionairism, and in this way only can they wrest the 
country from the grip of the destroyer. The struggle for the 
preservation of equal rights, the maintenance of true liberty and 
prosperity, is upon us. The issue is the protection of the unit of 
the State, the individual citizen, from the rapacity, the tyranny, the 
destroying selfishness of combinations of power, determined to 
use the functions of government to promote their own ends, re- 
gardless alike of personal rights and the welfare of the nation. 

On every hand the signs of the times are portentous. There 
must be a revival of genuine Americanism. The need of the 
hour is unwavering loyalty to the bed rock principles of the 
founders of the Republic. In church and society, in politics and 
trade there is an imperative demand for a fresh alignment, shoul- 
der to shoulder, in defence of true national principles. When 
Washington took the Executive Chair of the infant Republic, in 
the Spring of 1789, he was affectionately addressed, in a true patri- 
otic spirit, by representatives of all the religious bodies in the coun- 
try. The replies to these letters form a remarkable chapter in 
the history of the first President. They all breathe the same ex- 
alted spirit, are all filled with the same profound sense of the duty 
of acknowledgment of Divine goodness and the need of continued 
guidance from the same source of infinite wisdom and light. Ad- 



224 

dressing the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, Wash- 
ington said: 



&■ 



"Righteousness exalteth a nation. " 

"While I reiterate the professions of my dependence upon 
heaven, as the source of all public and private blessings, I will 
observe that the general prevalence of piety, philanthropy, hon- 
esty, industry, and economy seems, in the ordinary course of hu- 
man affairs, particularly necessary for advancing and confirming 
the happiness of our country. While all men within our territo- 
ries are protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dic- 
tates of their consciences, it is rationally to be expected from them 
in return that they will all be emulous of evincing the sanctity of 
their professions by the innocence of their lives and the beneficence 
of their actions; for no man, who is profligate in his morals, or 
a bad member of the civil community, can possibly be a true 
Christian, or a credit to his own religious society. I desire you 
to accept my acknowledgments for your laudable endeavors to 
render men sober, honest and good citizens and the obedient 
subjects of a lawful government, as well as for your prayers to 
Almighty God for His blessing on our common country." 

The nation needs to remember afresh and impressively the God 
of battles, who has held it in the hollow of His Almighty hand; 
who has so mercifully preserved and so graciously blessed it. We 
need to recall his high commands; to acknowledge Him in all our 
ways; to honor his holy day; to preserve and defend it against sec- 
ularization and desecration of every sort, as much in the interests 
of those who toil as of those who worship; to be guided by his 
Divine and loving wisdom. We need to remember that this is a 
Christian nation, with a Christian mission and a Christian destiny. 
And to this end we should confess our manifold errors, purge 
ourselves of the sins of the time, purify the social arena, cleanse 
the temple of politics, straighten the crooked places in trade, revo- 
lutionize the plague spots, rescue the "submerged tenth," lift up 
the fallen, vindicate the rights of labor, and prepare to enter the 
new century filled with the loftiest purposes, animated with the 
sublimest passions, and consecrated to the noblest work of man- 
kind. 



225 




XXVI. 

** Once more it was shown, with impressiveness never to 
be forgotten, that man's extremity was God's oppor- 
tunity. The Great Republic was saved ! " 

The magnificent trans-Atlantic 
steamer, The Great Republic, was 
nearing port, after a safe and 
pleasant voyage. At eventide, 
only two days from New York, 
the sky, which had been overcast 
for several hours, looked threat- 
ening and there was a strange 
tremor in the atmosphere, as 
though the elements were con- 
spiring to show their dangerous 
and destructive power. The 
watchful captain, as he surveyed the darkening horizon, from his 
post on the bridge, anxiously remarked to the officer standing be- 
side him: "I don't like the appearance of those clouds. See!" as the 
first faint flash of lightning was observed, though seemingly far 
away. The quartermaster ventured to remark that he would like 
to know what was the matter with the ship. He was a veteran 
helmsman and was plainly vexed as he said: "It seems to be al- 
most impossible, sir, to keep her steadily on her course." 

Darkness, which speedily settled into the blackness of a fear- 
ful night, with the heavy air, drove the passengers inside early, 
only a few noticing anything that disturbed their peace of mind. 
There was plenty of gayety in the main saloons and beautiful 
state rooms. The big liner, one of the proudest of her class in all 
her appointments, lacked nothing which could promote the com- 
fort of passengers. Richly furnished apartments, every personal 
convenience, sumptuous fare, polite attention, luxurious lounging, 
music, dancing and brilliant social intercourse, filled up the rap- 
idly passing hours and made the journey a delightful one for up- 
wards of five hundred tourists, many of them persons of unlimited 



226 

means, attended by large retinues of foreign born servants; men, 
women and children to whom life had been an endless round of 
worldly pleasure. In the other part of the ship were stowed away 
over one thousand humbler people. Every berth in the steerage 
was taken. Families were huddled together in close quarters, 
with frugal but wholesome fare, and all were looking forward 
to a landing in the new world with mingled feelings of sadness, 
thinking of loved ones left behind; joy, thinking of pleasant greet- 
ings; hope and fear. The only unpleasant feature was a number 
of large groups of men of forbidding appearance, uncleanly, low- 
browed, almost brutal looking, all under the care of several lead- 
ers of rough behavior; a fresh detachment of several hundred of 
the class of immigrants whose presence in our fair land during 
the past few years has been almost equal, in its terrible effects, to 
a pestilence. 

A terrible night at sea. 

At midnight all was silent. No one was to be seen but the vigi- 
lant members of the double watch, for the master of the vessel, 
himself remaining on duty, somehow felt strangely apprehensive. 
The storm had broken in great fury and the sea was becoming a 
fearful sight, even to experienced eyes. The wind, already blow- 
ing almost with cyclonic power, was gathering force with every 
moment. It shrieked and howled as though trying to drown the 
awful noise of the rising waves. The lightning flashed almost 
continuously and the artillery of the heavens seemed to be all 
unlimbered and double shotted for some great occasion. The 
officers were all at their posts and every one had supreme confi- 
dence in the ability of the ship to easily outride this, or any other 
storm that might overtake her. Their courage never faltered and 
the faithful crew vied with their leaders in calmly performing 
every duty. 

About three hours before daybreak there was excitement down 
in the great engine-room. One of the immense shafts had broken 
near the starboard wheel. The ship's master mechanic rushed to 
the scene and after a brief inspection reported that nothing could 
be done until port was reached. Half the engines were stopped 
and soon it was necessary to run the others slowly, for a new trou- 
ble had arisen. The old quartermaster's fears had been more than 
realized. The ship now periodically refused to obey her helm. 



227 

She was soon lying almost helplessly in the trough of the raging 
sea, with mountainous waves engulfing her every minute. Even 
with the aid of powerful electric search lights it was impossible to 
discover what was the matter. The terrible hours seemed to be 
days and weeks to the brave captain, in whose keeping were the 
lives of fifteen hundred passengers, all unconscious of their peril, 
and a crew of one hundred and fifty stout-hearted men. He paced 
the bridge, praying for dawn, with his eyes fixed upon what he 
supposed to be the eastern horizon. 

The quartermaster again startled his chief by declaring, in sea- 
men's vigorous language, that he believed the ship's compass was 
bewitched. "Look at it," he cried; "that thing's gone clean 
crazy!" Sure enough, the needle danced and whirled like mad, 
and refused to steadily do its work. A momentary trouble, per- 
haps, owing to the remarkable electrical conditions prevailing; 
but already everything was in confusion. The reckoning had 
gone astray. The mighty vessel, helplessly broken in her vital 
parts, with all her precious burden, was lost, and in an awful 
storm! What a situation! And all hands knew that the coast 
was not far distant, and that there were perilous shoals in their 
probable track, as they drifted out of their course. With the com- 
ing of daylight a thorough examination of the steering apparatus 
was made, but nothing wrong could be discovered either inside or 
outside the ship. The cause of the trouble was a profound mys- 
tery. Only one thing could be done. There must be ceaseless 
vigilance and a sharp lookout for help. The gun was fired at in- 
tervals all day, and the great whistle kept in constant use, but not 
a friendly sail appeared; no answering salutation. The storm of 
the night had broken, only to be succeeded by weather so thick 
that the captain could not see the man in the bow. No one could 
see a half ship's length. The sea continued to roll furiously. 
Shortly after noon a violent northeaster set in, accompanied by a 
very heavy rain-fall. All the craft near the coast had either put 
out to sea, to outride the storm, or taken refuge in the nearest 
port. 

Anxious hours and solemn thoughts. 

The living freight soon discovered the situation and there was 
intense anxiety. The day was spent within closed doors as no 
other had been during the voyage. There was earnest but sub- 



228 

dued conversation, and every one from outside, or who was sup- 
posed to have any information, was besieged by the imprisoned 
passengers. The tossing of the ship made nearly every one ill 
and amongst the most alarmed patients was a well-known Ameri- 
can iron master of great wealth, who, with the ruling passion al- 
ways present, tried to monopolize the services of the ship's doc- 
tor. He endeavored to slip several pieces of gold into the young 
man's hand, unseen, and was astonished to see his offer sternly re- 
jected. "I'll do my duty, sir," was the manly and indignant reply; 
""by you and all others." As night came on, the peril of the situa- 
tion increased. The anxious faces of the officers, as they flitted 
about, told what words could not conceal. There was no sleep for 
any person on board The Great Republic, save the helpless little 
ones in the steerage, a score or more of babies, held tightly in 
their trembling mothers' arms. 

In the great dining room, two or three hundred first-class pass- 
engers assembled, trying to comfort each other. There were 
many tear-stained faces. Strong men held wives, mothers and 
sisters by the hand and said cheering words that sounded like 
mockery. The fear was general that the vessel would not survive 
the struggle; that she would be overwhelmed and plunge to the 
bottom, or be dashed in pieces on the Long Island or New Jersey 
shore. The giant of steel, the modern product of man's highest 
ingenuity, was as helpless as the little skiff on the sea of Gallilee, 
nearly two thousand years ago, when the frightened fishermen 
awoke the sleeping passenger, who seemed to have no thought of 
danger, and asked: "Master, carest thou not that we perish!" He 
awoke and rebuked the sea and there was a great calm. "Peace, 
be still!" 

Ah, if this imperiled company could only find such help in this 
supreme hour of human need. This was the thought passing in 
every mind. Who should give it expression? An elderly man, of 
ministerial mien, finally mustered up courage to ask his friends 
to draw together, for a little while, and he would read to them. 
He tried hard to be calm, but his voice trembled in prayer, and 
after a few words of fatherly comfort, he opened the Book at the 
3d Chapter of John, relating the familiar story of Nicodemus and 
his secret search for light and truth. The preacher wanted to get 
his hearers into a spiritual frame of mind and hoped that they 
would follow him with reverent interest. When he closed, some 



229 

one near him asked : "Would you mind reading that inspiring nar- 
rative of Paul's voyage to Rome?'' 

The mysterious stranger — Living faith. 

The minister looked up astonished. Why, he evidently thought 
such a story, under such painful circumstances, would intensify 
the nervous strain of the hour. Hesitating a moment, he opened 
the Book, at the XXVII Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. 
Then he looked earnestly at the quiet stranger, a man of middle 
life, in very plain attire. He was thick-set, with strong, resolute 
face, and a fearless, yet kindly brown eye. "Won't you please 
read?" said the faltering preacher. "I would rather not," was the 
modest reply; "but I will if you wish. Thank you, I do not 
need the Book." Facing his astonished and inquiring auditors, 
he raised his voice, clear and distinct, strong and firm, yet won- 
derfully persuasive and reassuring in its tones. "And when it was 
determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul 
and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion 
of Augustus' band," he began, and while every one intently lis- 
tened, the whole thrilling chapter was recited, without a break, 
without a tremor, with evident joyousness born of a living and 
lofty minded, yet humble and sincere faith, which nothing could 
shake. And when he came to the last clause of the last verse 
and said, in ringing tones, that thrilled every heart: "And so it 
came to pass that they escaped all safe to land," there was an in- 
voluntary outburst of applause, that was strangely incongruous, 
but which told of the solid comfort thus courageously imparted. 

In a moment all was still again. Each soul was hungering for 
more. The Fountain of life had been unexpectedly opened and 
they feign would drink and be filled. Once more it was shown, 
with impressiveness never to be forgotten, that man's extremity 
was God's opportunity. "Will you kindly join me in a word of 
supplication?" was the request. Every head was bowed. Many 
dropped upon their knees, for the first time in long years. It 
was a prayer that went straight to the heart of every hearer. 
The words were simplicity itself; the thoughts expressed were 
full of meaning; the spirit of faith manifested was sublime. 
When he finished, there were few dry eyes, but many weary 
souls were lifted up. The ship's doctor had witnessed the scene. 
He came forward and gently took the stranger's arm and half 



23° 

pulled him away. ''Come with me, please," he said. As they 
passed out, the acting chaplain — as they now with one accord re- 
garded him — said to the purser: "Never mind who I am, please. 
You will understand?" "Certainly, Mr. ," was the whis- 
pered reply. A dozen queries were put at the officer, but his 
lips had been sealed. The mystery must remain unsolved, for 
the present at least. "God bless him, whoever he is," were the 
earnest words of the iron master, who had dragged himself into 
the larger company, ill as he was, and this was the grateful senti- 
ment echoed on every side. 

"The short and simple annals of the poor." 

The enthusiastic doctor soon had his friend, for they quickly 
understood each other, standing in the midst of an excited and 
terror stricken throng of a very different class. The poor 
steerage passengers were almost beside themselves. They ex- 
pected every minute to go to the bottom. The pitiful wailing of 
women and children was heard from every section. The doctor 
was heartily welcomed and asked by a score at once if all was well. 
*'Oh, yes," was the cheery reply; "we'll be all right, by and bye. 
We've had a little meeting over in the other end and I want you 
to hear my good friend. He will have something to say to 

which I know you will gladly listen. Mr. now you take 

charge of these people for a while." The visitor mounted a table 
and in a moment seemed to be at home. It was evident that he 
was familiar with such surroundings. He knew all about "the 
short and simple annals of the poor." He could talk to these 
humble folks in a language they could understand and make them 
feel the joy of human kinship as freely as he had done the fine 
folks in the other part of the ship. 

He began in a cheery way by telling his eager hearers of the 
voyage of his father, three-quarters of a century before, six 
weeks from Liverpool to New York. He showed his thorough 
acquaintance with the habits of thought and speech of the work- 
ing classes and soon made every one quite forget the dangers 
of the hour. At the doctor's request, however, the story told to 
the cabin passengers was repeated in the same way, and with 
even greater effect. The poor creatures who had felt as though 
they were deserted by God and man, looked up with swimming 
eyes and heartily joined in a familiar hymn. Prayer followed and 



231 

then the mysterious visitor said he would like to go about the 
steerage and talk with those unable to be at their little meeting. 
"I can stay here, can I not, doctor?" he said inquiringly. "I'll 
make it all right," was the reply. "Thank you, I am at home 
amongst these people. Give my love to the good friends over 
there and tell them to keep up bravely and all will be well. 
We'll all get safe to land." 

Long after midnight the captain became convinced that his 
stranded ship must have been carried very near the coast. The air 
was still so heavy nothing could be seen. Two engines were 
slowly worked, the hope being to get cautiously near enough by 
daybreak to ascertain their location. The roar of the sea and wind 
was still so great that it would be impossible to hear or dis- 
tinguish the breakers. The danger, therefore, of grounding was 
more imminent than ever. The gun was fired at intervals all 
night, without response. The electric searchlight was placed in 
the bow, but it could only penetrate the thick atmosphere a few 
rods. The leadsman was faithfully sounding all the while and the 
result indicated land not far away. But there were shoals that 
were more greatly to be feared. Something startling might hap- 
pen any minute. The steering apparatus was still mysteriously 
contrary, and the ship was really at the mercy of wind and wave. 
Every officer was on deck and every seaman alert. Every one in 
the engine room was at his post, and even the over-wearied stokers 
refused to take rest. Suddenly, just after the gun had been fired, 
a faint distant boom was heard, and then another. Was it a 
near by ship, or the warning answer of a life-saving station? The 
engines had been stopped and the ship was drifting, her agonized 
commander not knowing whither. It was a fearful hour. Dawn 
was near. 

On the shoals— " Two bells." 

In startled tones, the first officer, standing beside the leadsman, 
cried out to the captain on the bridge: "Three and one-half 
fathoms, sir!" The Great Republic had run aground! "Haste! 
haste!" the commander shouted in the ear of the old quartermas- 
ter. "Aye, aye, sir. It's done already," was the quick response. 
The signal, "two bells," had flashed to the engine room and 
with every engine at command instantly reversed, the great ves- 
sel was backed off — just in time ! There was an awful quiver from 



232 

stem to stern as her forward keel ground the hidden bar. Back! 
back, into the deep and safe waters of the sea! Back, away from 
this new peril! The storm was over; the danger was passed. The 
fog lifted and the sun, for the first time in three days, came up out 
of the surging waters, bringing once more safety, joy and peace. 
There lay the Cape May shore, not three miles distant, the 
starry flag waved from the life-saving station at the Point, and 
the brave crew were assembled on the beach, with their boat and 
lines, ready for any service. 

The Great Republic was saved! She had been guided by a mys- 
terious, yet all-powerful hand, drifting to the south and westward 
fairly within the mouth of the bay, in the very track of the hardy 
navigators of two centuries ago. The imprisoned passengers 
were quickly released and they rushed on deck with shouts of 
praise and thanksgiving. The faithful quartermaster had never 
been a praying man. He had not left the bridge, nor taken his 
hand off the wheel, for thirty-six hours. He now fell upon his 
knees and murmured a fervent prayer, while the captain and sec- 
ond officer stood by his side, uncovered and with bowed heads. 
When the old sailor had uttered his few broken words of grati- 
tude in behalf of all on board, the heroic chief, from a full heart, 
said, "Amen!'' "And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe 
to land." 

God bless our native land ! 
Firm may she ever stand, 

Through storm and night : 
When the wild tempests rave, 
Ruler of wind and wave, 
Do thou our country save 

By thy great might ! 

1 or her our prayer shall rise 
To God, above the skies ; 

Cn him we wait : 
Thou who art ever nigh, 
Guarding with watchful eye, 
To thee aloud we cry, 

God save the State. 



2 33 





The Sleeping Sentinel 

— OF— 

Valley Forge, 



by 

EDWIN PC HART. 



«A GOOD SHORT STORY, WELL TOLD." 



A ROMANCE OF THE REVOLUTION". 

Captivating, Touching and Inspiring. Of Special Interest to Younj 

People and Patriotic Societies. Handsomely Printed. 

Ten Historic Illustrations. 



Retail Price, 15 cents, postage paid, 



A romance of the Revolution that must touch the heart of every reader.— Philadelphia 
Evening Slar. 

A beautiful and inspiring tale of love and patriotism. — Chester Daily Neiva. 

A romantic little tale, full of patriotic ardor.— Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 

A charming historic romance, which deserves a wide circulation — Philadelphia Press. 

A well told tale of love and patriotism that should find many readers. — Phila. Inquirer. 

A pathetic love story, the blending of fact and fiction being accomplished with rare 
skill.— Philadelphia Call. 

The best short story of Revolutionary days which has appeared in a long time. — Phila. 
News. 

The author's style is comparable to that of Washington Irving.— Philadelphia Herald. 

A charming little story, charmingly written. — Reading Telegram. 

A faithful picture of the quaint lives of our forefathers. — Clifton News. 

A beautiful story which should be in every household. — Media Ledger. 

Its pathos appeals to. the sympathy of mankind as well as womankind. — Germantown 
Telegraph. 

A very pleasant story of love, patriotism and history combined, and appears at an 
opportune time.— Lutheran Observer. 

It gives the reader a clear and vivid idea of all that Valley Forge represent.— Phila. 
North American. 

No one can read it without feeling that he knows and loves the heroic men and women 
of the Revolutionary struggle. — Scranton Truth. 

Patriot Publishing Company, Philadelphia. 



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